Pain of Siblings
by XxBirdxOfxHermesxX
Summary: The pain of brother and sister can know no leaps and no bounds, but what happens when one of them forgets who they were? Pein sends his sister, Sakura, to Konoha as a spy, but things go horribly wrong in so many ways..From kidnappings to mysterious creatures, to murders that collapse worlds..."Who are you? Where am I? WHY am I here?" (Please Read Updated Version!)
1. The Separation

**A/N Hey, real quick guys! I decided to rewrite the fanfic! Mostly because I left stuff out…also because my writing style has apparently changed and I left a few holes in Sakura's personality and it was bothering me. A lot. So, enjoy!**

**Pain of Siblings 01: The Separation**

Konan sighed as she looked out the window. The rain only seemed to keep pouring harder and harder as she thought more about what was about to happen.

_Poor Pein_ Konan thought to herself lightly. The lightning cracked across the sky; the resulting thunder booming not a moment after. Konan sighed again and lightly felt her hair, knowing that it was going to get fizzy today.

She walked away from the window, the rain pounding against metal comforting her for the moment. She walked towards a door in the members section of the hideout. This door was very special, for it was black with a pink cherry blossom petal near the center of the top of the door. She softly brushed her hand against the petal, knowing that the person inside would still be sleeping.

Suddenly, a brilliant smile fixed itself on her face. She slammed open the door and hollered out,

"Sakura-chan!"

The person in bed merely moved around and groaned out in frustration.

Konan's smile dimmed for a moment before a smirk placed itself on her lips. She stepped towards the bed and ripped the covers off of the girl.

"Mahhh" the girl moaned out in agony. She shivered and cracked an eye open.

"Mah, nee-chan…" she whined as she slowly sat up in bed, rubbing the sleepy out of her eye.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. It's time to get some food in you, then Pein-sama has something he wants to talk to you about." Konan said, knowing she would get up at the mention of their leader.

"Wha-" Sakura shot up out of bed and struck a pose. "Yosh! Why did you not tell me this beforehand, Konan-nee?" She shot towards the door, where Konan grabbed the back of her shirt. Sakura almost choked but managed to halt her feet before that happened.

"Sakura, we have to eat first." Konan said lightly, causing Sakura to pout and slump her stature. Konan let go of her shirt slowly, not sure if Sakura would take off.

"Aw, but Nii-san wants me…" Sakura sighed and whirled around and stared at Konan for a moment. "What's Nii-san want with me anyway, Konan-nee?" Sakura asked curiously as she grabbed Konan's hand and dragged her towards the kitchen.

On the way to the door, Sakura grabbed her black robe which showed that she could soon join the organization, Akatsuki.

Konan grinned behind Sakura's head and let herself be dragged towards the kitchen, where the cook should be making Sakura's favorite food—

"DANGO!" Sakura yelled out astonished, barreling towards the plate of dango on the table. She let go of Konan as soon as she saw the plate and Konan laughed at her as she scarfed the plate of dango down.

Konan looked at the woman who cooked the dango for little Sakura.

"Ah, Sango-san, thank you." Konan said politely, causing Sakura to stop eating and look at Sango as well.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, Sango-nee!" Sakura said excitedly, grinning towards Sango who blushed brilliantly and began to squeal at the cuteness that was Sakura.

Konan only laughed and went towards Sakura. When she got to her chair, she stood behind her and began to brush out Sakura's hair with her fingers.

Konan's gaze turned soft as she looked at Sakura.

Sango left the room after bowing, knowing Konan was finished with her.

Sakura's pink hair was randomly mixed in with shades of black. Her black streaks were natural, and, in fact, when Sakura first arrived no one believed that they were real.

"Konan-nee, is something wrong?" Sakura asked after Konan stopped brushing out her hair and just let her hand sit in Sakura's hair.

Konan's eyes widened for a moment before she moved her hand away from Sakura.

Sakura's gray eyes narrowed as she slowly ate her dango, her eyes piercing through Konan's own eyes.

"Konan." Sakura said simply, causing Konan to tense and shake her head before she let out a brilliant grin, although Sakura could tell it was fake.

Sakura simply turned away slightly, keeping Konan within her line of sight.

"Sorry! You're just getting so big, Sakura!" Konan said, wrapping her arms around Sakura's head. She laid her cheek on the top of her head and stared silently at the wall.

Sakura merely chewed up her dango, going through situations in her head which would make Konan act so odd.

"Am I to get my first mission?" Sakura asked curiously, her Rin'negan twinkling in a childish way.

"Aa." Konan grunted out, wondering exactly when Sakura became so smart.

"Neh, Konan-nee, you shouldn't be worried about me. It's my first mission, so I am willing to bet it is something really easy, and most likely with another one of the members." Sakura said curtly before taking another bite of her dango. She stared at the five dango sticks lying on her relatively clean plate. All of a sudden, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed in excitement and her eyes seemingly sparkled.

Sakura, startling Konan, jumped up and grabbed onto Konan's hands.

"What if he sends me on a mission with you, Konan-nee?" Sakura said excitedly before twirling in pure excitement, holding her dango in both hands.

"Sakura, if he was doing that then he would have told me already." Konan said smirking causing Sakura to stop and glare at Konan briefly and snorting before grinning back at the blue haired woman.

"Meh, he could have not told you since he knew you would tell me if he did!" Sakura said right before sticking her tongue out at Konan.

Konan, deciding to entertain the girl briefly, began to look furious, which caused Sakura to squeal loudly and rush out of the kitchen, towards Pein's office.

Along the way, Sakura almost literally ran into a large, blue fish-like man. Said man grinned at Sakura and ruffled her hair before stepping aside so Sakura could run past.

Konan, right behind Sakura, stopped in front of Kisame, her face blank.

"Her first mission is today." Konan said simply, causing Kisame's grin to almost literally fall off his face.

"Why her?" He simply asked, only for Konan to return his question with silence. She quietly kept going down the hall, leaving Kisame to stand in silence in the hall.

**-o-**

Sakura stood silently outside of Pein's door, her one thought on the question 'how difficult could one mission be?'

Sakura finally opened the door when she felt chakra flair up inside. She planted a small smile on her face—one that said she was pleased but not overly happy or seemingly childish.

"Pein-sama" she said simply, causing Pein to glance at the girl.

"Sakura" he said, looking towards the papers on his desk.

"I know you're not really doing paperwork, Pein-sama." Sakura said with a larger smirk than was probably necessary.

Pein let out a chuckle and looked at her, their Rin'negan eyes clashing.

"I guess you heard about your mission?" Pein asked curiously, causing Sakura to merely shift on her feet.

"I see." Pein's eyes narrowed slightly, sensing the sadness in the girl.

"Before I give you this mission, I have to know if you will accept it or not."

Sakura's eyes widened and her mouth hung open. "I've never heard of you offering such an open mission."

Pein merely shrugged.

"Do you accept?" Pein asked, holding out a scroll with a pink lining.

Sakura's eyes narrowed slightly.

_He wouldn't send me to my death, but this must be a pretty dangerous mission if he won't even tell me what it is…_

"I accept, even if you haven't told me what it is." Sakura said, causing Pein to chuckle and stand up. Her eyes widened slightly, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Good, good." Pein said before stopping right in front of her and crouching in front of her.

"Nii-san, what's the matter?" Sakura said, putting a hand on the side of her brother's face. He looked sad and looked like he needed comforting, she reasoned with herself.

Pein merely sighed and laid his hand on the hand on his face. He closed his eyes and she knew something was horribly wrong.

"Your mission is for you to leave here." Pein said coldly, causing Sakura to tense up even further.

"W-What..." Sakura asked confused. She tried to take her hand off of Pein's face but Pein held her hand firmly.

"We do not yet have a good spy in Konoha. This is your test, Sakura Haruno." Pein said, tacking on the last name as her cover name. Sakura instantly understood, but didn't quite understand the severity of it.

"We share the same eyes and hearing, Sakura. Therefore, for us to get the best information, you are to…to lose your memory. Thus allowing me to spy through your unknowing eyes." Pein said sharply before he slammed his palm into Sakura's forehead. Without her noticing, he had been gathering chakra into his palm.

Sakura's eyes began to flutter close, although she had enough time to ask 'why' in a broken voice. She fell forward onto his shoulder, where he then held her to him.

Pein let a tear leak out of his now closed eyes. He held Sakura in his arms and simply cried for minute, aware of how strong the storm outside was getting.

Meanwhile, outside the door stood Kisame and Konan, both wondering how in the world Pein could have made such a heart breaking decision.

**-o-**

In another part of the world, stood a lone figure surrounded by puddles, almost lakes, of blood. The houses, once barren, were now full of people. These people, however, were different. They seemed alive but then again they somehow didn't.

Their eyes were rolled back in their heads and their mouths open wide, some with their bottom jaws gone and some with various wounds all over their face and bodies.

All wore a single symbol on their clothing—one which caused this single figure to scream in pure terror and sadness.

**-o-**

Another figure, in a seemingly different dimension, stared down at his crumpled brother. The brother who was cringing and seeing his dead family rise from the dead and make various attempts on his life.

This figure, however, was named Uchiha Itachi and he had just succeeded in massacring his entire family…

Well, except for one.

He darted off towards the edge of the Uchiha compound lines—the one facing the forest outside of Konoha.

**-o-**

Pein, having decided to give Konan a chance of saying goodbye to the unconscious Sakura, softly placed the unconscious girl into Konan's awaiting arms.

Konan didn't say anything, merely carried the girl bridal-style.

After what seemed like an eternity to Pein, Konan finally looked into Pein's eyes.

"Meet the Uchiha at the halfway point. He will take her to Konoha and secure her a spot amongst their ranks." Pein stated solemnly, causing Konan's eyes to narrow slightly.

"And you can trust this boy with her?" Konan said coldly, causing Pein's eyes to narrow slightly at her. She didn't back down—not like she ever did when it came to Sakura.

"Although he has murdered his family, he still holds love for his brother—just as I hold love for my little sister." Konan was silent so he simply turned his back to her and walked to his desk where he retrieved a pink edged scroll.

He walked back to Konan and slid the scroll into Sakura's kunai pouch which laid against her outer thigh.

Her cloak laid out on a chair behind Pein, momentarily forgotten.

Pein turned away from her once more, going to his desk. As soon as he turned away from her, both herself and Sakura turned to paper and began the long trek towards Konoha.

"I'm sorry, Sakura…"

**-o-**

Itachi had been waiting at the mentioned spot for about two hours, hiding his chakra to near nothingness. The Hunter-nin had ignored this part of the forest unknowingly because of the various Genjutsu he had woven.

Just as he began to very lightly fidget against the tree he was leaning on, he head an odd sound.

It sounded almost like paper ripping.

All of a sudden, in the middle of a blink, in front of him stood a woman with blue hair and in her arms was a small child—one with pink hair.

He narrowed his red eyes on the girl, wondering why the Akatsuki held such a girl in their ranks.

Konan said nothing as she observed him, wondering if she could really trust him with her charge.

"Uchiha Itachi." Konan said coldly, causing Itachi's eyes to flicker towards hers. She stood her ground and in fact took a step closer.

"This girl is the one who you must take to Sarutobi." Konan said, causing Itachi to raise his eyebrow.

"And if I refuse?" Itachi asked, his emotions stirred at seeing a young girl about his own brother's age unconscious in this woman's arms.

Konan merely stared into his eyes, unafraid. Her eyes narrowing were his own response.

"Who is she?" He finally ground out, wanting to know who she was at the very least.

"As of now, Haruno Sakura." Konan said coldly once more, causing Itachi to hum in response.

Konan, seeing the question in his eyes, merely narrowed her eyes even further.

"Her story is as such," Konan began, as she shifted Sakura around in her grasps. She managed to hold the small girl with one hand as she dug into her kunai pouch and retrieved the scroll.

Itachi wordlessly grasped onto the scroll and read its content and a seemingly calm face. Konan, though, could see the slight anger in the way he held himself. Silent, she let him read.

'_Name: Haruno Sakura_

_Age: Eight_

_Family: None_

_Village: Ishigakure_

_Reason for leaving: Banishment from clan'_

He unrolled the scroll some more and saw, at the bottom of the scroll, a little note:

'_I'm so sorry, my little Blossom…I hope you'll one day forgive your father…please, find someone to love and care for you in the Leaves. Mommy loves you.'_

He almost scoffed if it wasn't for the woman standing in front of him. He easily rolled the scroll back together and handed it back to Konan who wordlessly placed it back into the girl's kunai pouch.

"Pein-sama made sure that she won't have any memories—she won't even remember ever reading the scroll. Sarutobi must find the scroll himself." Konan stared coldly into Itachi's eyes for a moment before she finally closed her eyes and let a sigh escape her lips. Her eyes flashed open and landed on Sakura's pink hair.

"Do you know who she is, Itachi?" Konan asked softly before handing her over to Itachi, who awkwardly adjusted her in his arms. She stared at the girl for a moment with softened eyes.

Itachi was silent as he awaited for Konan to inform him.

"She is to Pein-sama as Sasuke is to you." Konan said softly before brushing some pinkish-black hair out of Sakura's face.

Itachi's reaction was instant—his eyes widened and his mouth slackened a bit.

"Sister?" He muttered to himself as he gazed at Konan with wide opened orbs.

Konan's eyes hardened once more as she stood up straight once more and stared coldly at Itachi.

"If anything happens to her while she is in your care…" Konan said before pausing for a moment, as to let Itachi acknowledge that she was threatening him, "You won't have to worry about Akatsuki any longer." She finished her sentence with flourish as her body turned into a paper and fluttered off, not letting Itachi say anything to her threat.

Itachi merely glared towards the direction she fluttered off into and turned around with a soft scoff.

"Sakura, huh?" Itachi muttered to himself, eyeing the girl's hair before wondering where in the world she could have gotten such hair.

In the blink of an eye, Itachi shot back towards Konoha, breaking all the Genjutsu around the forest right after he strengthened the Genjutsu around himself.

**-o-**

Sarutobi sat, staring at the prodigy in front of him. The paperwork he had been reading and right about to sign sat blank as he took in the boy's baggage.

"Who is this, Itachi?" He asked tiredly before standing up and walking towards the boy.

Itachi was silent as he watched Sarutobi come towards him.

"If you brought her here personally…do you know her, per chance?" Sarutobi asked before staring down at the boy who was almost as tall as him.

Itachi merely stared at him before opening his mouth.

"Sakura."

Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly before glancing towards the girl.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the pinkish hair.

"I see." Sarutobi hummed out after a moment. "I assume you want her to stay here?"

Itachi merely held the girl's body out towards the older man. Said man slowly reached out and took the girl.

"I met her during a mission." Itachi simply stated before he turned towards the window and began to walk towards it.

"Wait, Itachi. Just a moment." Sarutobi said softly, turning his head to look towards the boy. Itachi stopped but didn't look back at the elder.

"Are you doing this because she is the same age as Sasuke?" Sarutobi asked softly. The only reaction he got out of Itachi was his shoulders tensing slightly.

After a moment, Itachi leapt from the building but Sarutobi swear he said something along the lines of "take care of her."

Sarutobi sighed softly and looked down at the girl. She made no move of waking up any time soon so he merely glanced at the paperwork on his desk and headed out the door.

**-o-**

Her head hurt. A lot. She felt like something was squeezing her head as she tried to make connecting thoughts.

Who was she? Where was she? Why was she here? _Who_ was she?!

During her thoughts she subconsciously picked up on the sound of beeping speeding up and the sound of running steps.

Her thought process was stopped as she heard a door slam open and in ran in two nurses with an old man behind them and then a masked ninja behind him.

'**ANBU'** a voice whispered to her in her mind.

The nurses came over and began checking on her, asking question after question. Her mind began screaming at her for silence but she could only stare at them as her mental functions shut themselves down to keep her sane.

The old man gathered the nurse's attention and shooed them out the door, recognizing what was happening.

As her mind recognized the quiet her eyes became more focused and her mind began to gather information around herself.

She could smell the obvious scent of a hospital, but she could also smell what seemed to be leaves and just in general, nature. She didn't know how she could recognize the scent, but it seemed clear to her what it was.

She glanced outside to see the sun shining through her window, causing her to squint as she took in the busy village outside of her window. She then looked to her left where she saw an old man calmly staring at her. The ANBU from earlier was gone, so she assumed he had left.

A barely heard shuffle made her rethink that last thought—he was only in the shadows.

She stared at the old man, causing him to smile at her. He leaned forwards and rested his elbows upon his knees in a more seemingly-relaxed pose.

"Welcome to Konohagakure." He simply said before observing her reaction. She seemed genuinely lost.

"Kono…haga…kure?" She muttered to herself before looking straight ahead of her and into a mirror that was exactly at eye level. She took in her pink and black mixed hair and the sight of her forest green eyes. The eyes made her feel out of place, but otherwise she felt…the same. The same as what though, she didn't know.

"I am the Third Hokage of Konoha, young one." He nodded his head at her when she turned her head to look at him.

"Hokage..?" She asked him softly, causing him to wondering exactly who she was.

For the moment, he only nodded before responding, "Yes, my name is Sarutobi Hiruzen." He closed his eyes briefly as he smiled even wider at her. "You may call me Sarutobi for the moment."

He cleared his throat to clear up any awkward atmosphere the girl was causing.

He reached into his kunai pouch, making note of how quickly her eyes darted to his hands and how she tensed, and retrieved a little pink edged scroll.

He wordlessly handed it to her and she slowly unraveled it.

For a moment, there was only silence. It was broke when tears began to pour down her face and sobs wracked her body. Sarutobi was surprised by this—he would have thought she would remembered the scroll.

"Haruno Sakura?" She asked herself before another sob took over her.

He couldn't help but glance towards the ANBU in the corner.

"Can you remember anything, Sakura-san?" Sarutobi asked her quietly, wishing he could wait for her to calm down but he somehow knew that she wouldn't calm down easily.

"N-No" She said brokenly before she clutched onto the scroll and sobbed even harder.

Sarutobi sighed and stood up. He placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there and she looked up at him, her green eyes sparkling with tears but also full of fear and curiosity.

"It's fine for the moment, Sakura-san. They want you to stay in the hospital for another day and then we can make some arrangements, how does that sound?" Sarutobi asked softly, causing the girl to sniffle and nod.

She looked back down towards herself in the mirror, just wondering who she was.

"I'll see if the nurse will release you for an hour and we can go for a walk." Sarutobi then walked out of the room, leaving the ANBU to watch her silently. A hood was over his head but one could see a sliver of silver hair sticking out above his mask.

**A/N Hey again! I hope this chapter was A LOT better…I'm trying to not leave gaping holes in the characters…also, stuff that I didn't add in the original fic has been added (for example, the scroll…) and they're not all…over the top happy, like they were in the original…**

**I'll probably be uploading the new chapters when I finish them or something, I haven't decided yet…**

**Uhm…Oh, I finished this on March 25, 2015. Jesus my writing style has changed a lot…Almost four years ago I finally posted this fanfiction, although I had it wrote for god knows how long…**

**Uhm…As always, review! I am looking for people to tell me if I write something that they don't understand, has a hole, or is just plain wrong…this does include grammar and stuff. **

**Oh, and before I forget, I don't really like using Japanese in fanfictions because it kind of ignores me….BUT, having said that, I WILL leave the –chan's and all those. Simply because it can show someone's respect or love for someone without having to be all descriptive like "said lovingly" or whatever. So…sorry if you don't like it when people use those, but I use them not because they are Japanese but because they are really handy…**

**I think that is all I really needed to say….this chapter was over 3500 words…last time I believe it was about 2000 words…As of now, this chapter is almost 4000 words because of the A/N…so maybe the actual chapter is more than 3500…anyway.**

**Sorry for the trouble guys! 3**

**~/Takai-sama\~**

**P.S. So..I didn't really think about this very well, and sorry about that...but I forgot that the two stories that I have are going to be very different, SO...the chapters beyond this one will be the original (at least until I post the next one, which I'm starting and am going to try to hurl through the chapters...) SO...any chapters you read beyond this will be..odd. So, sorry about that! I really should've made another story or waited and posted all of them at once but anyhoo, if you want to, you can keep reading...just be aware that the chapters will be different and you may be confused, but I'm trying to get these done, so..tootles!**


	2. The Beginning

**So, before I start, I have to say this. OMG. I AM SO. SORRY. I remembered TWO TIMES this weekend. TWO. Once Friday in school (obviously, I was in school, so I couldn't update) and then two, three, four hours ago. I am JUST now bringing myself to doing it. I have yet to really work on Chapter four, but I will get on that ASAP...I'm having a bit of trouble with what's going to happen in it, but I am pretty sure I've got it figured out. Sooo...read on! (I do not own Naruto, even though I'll say it again at the end...)**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Pain of Siblings 02: The Beginning<strong>_

As Sakura finally began to wake up two days after the massacre, she noticed a beeping very faintly that seemed to speed up slowly as she began to regain consciousness. _W-What…_

She then lifted up her arm and rubbed "sleepy" from her eyes so she could see clearly. She slowly sat up, her rather long pink and black hair cascading from her back to over her shoulder as she slouched over, tired from making that much movement after such a long nap.

_Wait..a nap..? When did I go to sleep…_ Her eyes widened and the beeping sped up more. _Wait…What the…Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here? WHO AM I?_

The heart monitor sped up to an unhealthy pace and before anything major could happen, a hand rested itself on the girl's hand that was resting on her lap. The girl visibly tensed and a scream almost bubbled out of her throat before an old man's face showed itself in her line of vision.

"Hey hey, it's ok, you're alright." The old man said to her. She looked at him scared and tried to back away, but the back of the hospital bed stopped her.

"W-Where am I..? Who are you? Who am I?" Sakura asked before she grabbed onto Sarutobi's hand "Please, tell me!" She said and he looked at her quietly.

"Haruno Sakura." He said and she tilted her head. He smiled at how cute she was. "That's your name. Your name is Haruno Sakura. And you're currently eight years old. By the way, happy birthday. I heard that today is your birthday." He said and Sakura looked at him before she sighed happily.

_Well, at least I know who I am…_ she mumbled in her mind before she looked at the man curiously.

"So, I'm Haruno…Sakura…who're you, mister?" she asked and he smiled at her. "I am the Hokage of this village. You are currently in the wonderful hidden village of Konoha, the village in the leaves. My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, although you may call me Sarutobi." He said before he bowed his head to her. She smiled at him and clapped once.

She held out her hand, as to which Sarutobi shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sarutobi-sama." She then frowned softly. "I just wish that I could remember something, so I could say that with truth in the words." She looked at him through her eye lashes as she bent her head cutely and looked at him shyly. "I'm rather confused about who I am still." She said and she held onto her stomach.

"What's wrong?" He said and before he could call for a nurse, he heard a growl. He stared at her hands before he laughed. "You're hungry!" he said and he laughed while she blushed deeply. "Hang on, I'll get you some food. Do you know what you want?" He asked and she looked down sadly, her arms released from her stomach and now just sat limp on her lap. His smile died down and he sighed and patted her head. She looked up at him surprised, her childish green eyes gleaming. "Don't worry, you'll figure it all out one day. I'm sure that this memory lose is only temporary." He said with a smile and she smiled at him and nodded at him.

"So, since you're hungry, and so am I," at this cue, his own stomach growled at which he grinned sheepishly and Sakura giggled at, "I know a great place just down the road. It's a ramen shop. Do you remember anything about ramen?" He asked and Sakura stared at him before she look at her hands.

She slowly nodded. "Not really..it only sounds familiar to me…" she mumbled and Sarutobi stood up and clapped once, a sound at which Sakura looked startled at.

"That's better than nothing! Come, let's get you checked out of this hospital, I'm sure you don't like it, cause I sure as hell don't." He said and then he blushed and looked at her "Ah, excuse the dirty word." He said and she grinned at him.

"It's alright. The curse words don't bother me at all. I'm used to them." She said with a shrug and then she looked confused for a moment before she shook her head. She began to take the heart monitor attachment off of her finger, but Sarutobi stopped her by grasping her hand with a panicked look on his face.

"No no no, don't do that, because then we'd have angry nurses at us because the heart monitor is _really_ loud" he said before he pressed and held down the Power button before he let the button go once the machine slowly turned off. He then said, "_Now_ you can take it off." He said triumphant and she nodded and took it off. She sighed happily and flexed her hand, although the device was only on her index finger.

She looked at Sarutobi and grinned. "Well, let's go!" She said and jumped up out of bed and landing on the ground gracefully, although once she stood up straight and at her full height, she suddenly felt light headed.

"Oh!" Sarutobi grabbed her just in time for her to stumble into his arms.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, what are you doing!" A nurse squealed in horror at him as he helped a little girl to walk to the door.

The two froze.

"Uhm…" Sarutobi mumbled before he cleared his throat and pointed down at Sakura, a bored look in his eyes, although a bit guilty since he was caught. "I am checking Sakura out of the hospital. She has no wounds to be noted of, so I'm just going to check her out…" Sarutobi said, moving Sakura forward but the nurse looked at the two of them, steam coming out of her nose.

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry but I can't allow it-" she said and then she looked down at the little girl. Sakura's eyes were wide and doe-like. She slowly clasped her hands together and a pout landed on her lips as her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"P-Please..?" Sakura asked and blinked slowly. Sarutobi and the nurse looked at her entranced. The nurse stared into the girl's eyes, her own eyes starting to glisten with tears as well.

"K-Kawaii…" she mumbled under her breathe as she stared at the girl.

Sakura smiled slightly, although not enough to break the charade. "P-Please ma'am…? I don't want to be a burden to you or the hospital anymore…" she sniffed once and a tear fell from her eye. She wiped it away and the nurse just melted.

The nurse bit her lip "Oh alright.." she looked at Sarutobi who had tears in his eyes as a sigh appeared behind him that said "Kawaii~ 3" in Japanese Kanji. _I'm right with you on that, Sarutobi-sama~_ the nurse thought as she then sighed and cleared her throat, hoping to shake the moment off. "Sarutobi-sama, I expect to see her back here if you notice anything out of the ordinary." She said and Sarutobi nodded vigorously.

"You know that I'm fine with that, Tsuki!" he said before he grasped onto Sakura's hand and dragged her out after Tsuki moved out of the way.

Tsuki held her clipboard tighter to her chest and sighed happily. "What an adorable little girl…"

"Wow, that was awesome, Sakura-chan!" Sarutobi said excitedly after they exited the hospital. Sakura yawned and stretched her muscles all through her body lightly, having to stop in the middle of the walk-way to do so.

"Thank you, Sarutobi-sama!" Sakura said happily before she hopped up beside Sarutobi, took his hand and asked, "so, where're we going, Sarutobi-sama?"

"We're going to a ramen shop called Ichiraku's." Sarutobi said, leading her to said stand.

**-After they get done eating…-**

"Sakura, we have some business to discuss." Sarutobi said, putting down his chopsticks on the counter. Sakura, ramen noodles half way in her mouth and half out, nodded slightly and hurriedly ate the noodles by slurping them up.

"Yes sir, I agree sir." she said in mock military-style. Sarutobi laughed at her and rubbed the top of her head. "H-Hey!" she pouted.

He grinned at her before he turned around in his spinning stool and whistled. Sakura looked at him curiously. She held onto her ramen bowl and slowly spun in her chair, still eating.

A minute or two later, a man appeared in a poof of smoke. Sakura tensed lightly before she relaxed and tilted her head at the man. The man nodded his head towards the Hokage.

"ANBU-san." Sarutobi said and the ANBU stood still. "I need you to do something for me." Sarutobi said with a smile. The ANBU bent down and got onto one knee with a bowed head.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU said. Sakura noticed that the mask he was wearing was that of a hawk.

"Go and get me Umino Iruka. Tell him that if he makes it to my office before me, then to just wait and I will be there momentarily." He said and the ANBU nodded before he glanced at Sakura (she assumed he did) and nodded to her as well. She tilted her head at him with a cute smile.

"Yes sir" he said before he poofed off.

Sarutobi turned to Sakura with a smile. "Well, are you about ready to go?" He asked and Sakura looked up at him curiously before she put her bowl up on the counter. She then turned to him with a huge grin.

"Yes sir!" she said happily and the hokage grinned.

"I'm glad then." He said before he turned his head "Check please!" he said, his hand raised in the air.

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka called into the Hokage's office after he knocked on the door and opened it. "H-Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked again, but a little louder. He took a step in and looked around. "I guess he isn't in here.." Iruka mumbled before he let out a sigh of relief and stepped inside.

"Heyya Iruka." a voice said to the left of Iruka.

"What the-!" Iruka shouted as he gripped the door for dear life. "H-Hokage-sama! Stop scaring the crap out of me every time you see me!" Iruka yelled annoyed as he let go of the door and stood straight and tall.

Sarutobi laughed and sat on his desk, motioning for Sarutobi to step closer. Once Iruka stepped up and closed the door, a grinning Sakura was scene from being the door, although Iruka couldn't see that.

"Now Hokage-sama, what is it that you need?" He asked as Sakura slowly started to creep up behind him.

"Well, I needed to tell you of someone who I know is around here somewhere…" Sarutobi mumbled before he looked under his desk. Whenever he rose back up, he looked directly behind Iruka.

"Wha-?" Iruka asked but was interrupted by something grabbing a hold of his leg. "Oh my god!" Iruka yelled as he jumped to the right, away from what grabbed him. She held onto him though.

"Hiya!" Sakura said with a happy smile on her face at Iruka still shaking. Iruka's body kept shaking as he lay on the ground, on his side, a puff of a cloud coming out of his mouth to show his near unconsciousness.

"H-Hokage-sama!" Iruka yelled as he scrambled up from the floor. "I said to stop-hey wait, who're you?" he asked the little girl who smiled at him.

"Hi, my name's Sakura." She said happily at him while Sarutobi grinned. Sakura walked over to Sarutobi and stood beside him, happily bouncing on the heel of her feet.

"W-Well.." Iruka muttered softly as he looked at the little girl before he looked to Sarutobi for an explanation.

"Iruka, I would like you to meet the newest civilian of Konoha—her name is Haruno Sakura." Sarutobi said as he pointed to Sakura who saluted to Iruka before giggling softly.

"H-Hello Sakura.." Iruka mumbled, a blush on his cheeks at being frightened by a civilian. Iruka then looked at Sarutobi, a surprised look on his face once he realized something. "H-Hokage-sama, you don't think she's a-" Iruka started only for Sarutobi to continue his sentence.

"-a ninja you mean? Yes, I do believe she is one. She's got quite a lot of chakra, don't you think, Iruka-sensei?" Sarutobi said, playfully adding the "-sensei" at the end of Iruka's name to tease him.

Iruka finally calmed down and concentrated on the girls' chakra, although once he calmed down, he had to agree with Sarutobi, she _did_ have quite a lot of chakra, although why he didn't notice it before, he doesn't know…

"Does this mean that you want me to…to train her, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked uncertainly. Sarutobi nodded and Sakura's smile faded a bit, although it went unnoticed by either men.

"Yes, Iruka, I do. I'm going to make her an honorary civilian of Konoha and put her into the academy. How do you think she'll do, based on what you've seen, Iruka?" Sarutobi asked Iruka at the end curiously, looking at Sakura tenderly who only tilted her head to the side while staring at Iruka curiously.

"A-Ah, well.." Iruka mumbled as he looked at Sakura before he finally began to observe the stance she held and such. As Iruka looked at her closer, he noticed quite a few things about her…

A few seconds later, Iruka had an answer. "I think she'll succeed, Hokage-sama." Iruka said confidently as he stared at Sakura, who's right eye twitched unnoticeably by the untrained eye, although Iruka plainly caught it but simply ignored it.

"Ah, as do I, Iruka, as do I." Sarutobi mumbled amused before he took out a few pieces of paper. "Even though I hate paperwork, I'll make an exception for you, Sakura-chan." Sarutobi said happily as he wrote down all of the information he knew about Sakura, which was basically nothing.

"Ah, Sarutobi-sama, what're you writing?" Sakura asked curiously. Sarutobi gazed down at her while Iruka looked at Sarutobi amused, waiting to see what he would do.

Sarutobi simply grinned before saying, "well hang on a minute Sakura-chan, so I can finish what I'm writing, then I'll let you see it, ok?" Sarutobi asked and Sakura nodded happily.

"Yes sir!"Sakura said before she went over to Iruka and started to ask him questions. "Iruka-san?" She asked, grasping onto Iruka's pants and pulling very lightly to get his attention.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Iruka asked as he gazed down at her and by the end of his question, he was crouched down in front of her.

Sakura looked a bit nervous but yet again very curious. "Are there any nice people in the academy..?"

Iruka blinked at her. "I..I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking."

"W-Well…" Sakura's cheeks flushed a brilliant red as she poked her fingers together nervously. "I've never had a friend before...or at least one that I can recall.." she mumbled before she glanced at Sarutobi nervously.

"Oh, I get it now!" Iruka smiled happily at himself finally getting it. "Oh yes, Sakura-chan, there are a lot of nice people there. I'm sure that you'll make a lot of friends!" Iruka said happily and Sakura smiled back, her blush still in place but not nearly as brilliant as it had been.

"Yay!" Sakura said happily as she skipped back over to Sarutobi. "Are you almost done, Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked him cutely and Sarutobi glanced down at her.

"Yes, just be patient my dear. I'm almost done." Sarutobi mumbled as he continued to write. After he let out a huff of annoyance at so much paper work, he leaned back in his chair and opened another drawer in his desk and pulled out another piece of paper. "Sakura-chan, can you sign something for me?" Sarutobi asked her nervously, hoping that she could.

Sakura looked at him curiously. "Yes sir, I can, why, what do I need to sign?" Sarutobi smiled relieved and happily, all rolled into one.

"That's very good. I just wrote up a contract that gives you full permissions as a Konoha civilian. It also says that you are giving your loyalties to Konoha and will do your best to be a good girl." Sarutobi said before he thought of something. "Can you read yet, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's cheeks puffed out in slight annoyance and Sarutobi smiled nervously. "Yes sir I can."

"That's good…that's good." Sarutobi mumbled before he handed the paper to Sakura. "Good then, would you mind reading that contract very thoroughly before signing? I want you to be perfectly sure that you want to be a member of this village." Sarutobi said and Sakura nodded happily before she sat on the floor and began to read the contract.

'_I, __**Hiruzen Sarutobi**__, current Hokage of Konoha, Hidden Village in the Leaves, give full rights and permissions for __**Haruno Sakura**__ to become a perminate resident of the village. If __**Haruno Sakura**__ so pleases, she may leave the village at any time, as a ninja or a civilian, although he or she must get a written permission from the Hokage. If all rules are not abided by __**Haruno Sakura**__, then punishment can be delivered onto he or she, regardless of age.'_

Sakura stared at the piece of paper before she nodded to herself and signed where Sarutobi told her to. "Should I date the paper as well?" She asked and Sarutobi shook his head.

"No, I'll sign it. Thank you for asking though, Sakura." Sarutobi said before he slipped the paper from her fingers and wrote the current date. Sakura pouted up at Sarutobi while Iruka smiled softly to the girl.

Sarutobi sighed. "Next, we will have to work on your housing," Sarutobi mumbled as he got out another piece of paper.

"What's this going to be, Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked Sarutobi smiled softly before he began to tell her.

"Well, Sakura-chan, since you're new to the village, I thought that it would only be common sense if you lived with me until you can get up on your own two feet." Sarutobi said and Iruka tilted his head and came forward and sat on the floor on the right of Sarutobi. Sarutobi looked down at him and smiled before handing the paper over to him. "Here, take a look. See if you see any flaws or loopholes in the contract." Sarutobi stated and Iruka nodded and looked over the paper.

Sakura stared at Sarutobi in silence "You…" Sarutobi and Iruka looked at her curiously. "You want me…to live with you?" Sakura asked softly, her eyes getting glossy. Sarutobi smiled softly and patted her head.

"Yes, Sakura-chan, I do. I haven't had a kid in the house in quite a few years." Sarutobi observed to himself.

Iruka handed the piece of paper to Sarutobi with a smile. "I see nothing wrong with it."

Sarutobi smiled and held out a pen to Sakura. "I want you to do the same thing you did with this one as you had the last one, ok?" Sarutobi asked with a kind smile.

Sakura smiled back happily and grasped the pen in her hand. "Ok!" She then signed the paper where Sarutobi told her to, happy that she would have a home. After she signed the paper, she yawned softly.

"Getting tired are we?" Sarutobi asked teasingly before he handed a piece of paper to Iruka. This piece of paper he had worked on after Sakura took the "adoption/caretaker" form and began to sign in.

"What's this, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked before he looked at it. "Oh.."

Sarutobi remained quiet so he could let Iruka read the page.

Iruka looked up before he stood up and nodded at the older man. "I will put her information into the database and we will get her classes." Iruka said with a smile before he thought of something. "We need to figure out what level you're on, so we'll know what year to put you." Iruka said while looking at Sakura who stared at him blankly.

"Sakura-chan here doesn't remember much at all." Sarutobi said while looking at Sakura before he looked back up at Iruka. "She'll probably need to just start with the first years. If we find out that she needs to move up, then we'll move her up. It's no big deal." Sarutobi said happily. Iruka glanced at Sarutobi before he nodded and moved in front of the desk once more.

"Is there anything else you need, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked, to which Sarutobi merely shook his head and Iruka nodded before poofing off.

After Iruka left, Sakura stretched her arms and yawned, loud and long. Sarutobi looked down at her and smiled. "Getting tired?" He asked as to which she nodded. Sarutobi stood up from his chair and yawned as well. "Well, then let's go home Sakura." Sarutobi smiled down at Sakura who grinned up at him and grasped his hand tightly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN This is sooo shooort (the fanfiction. Possibility, as it goes, means that this A/N will most likely end up being looong….) ….You may skip the following lines. If you like, anyway:**

**1) It is Sunday, August 14, 2011, and I've had this chapter done for….meh…a few days. Lol. Ok, maybe four, five? …It's summer, time and I do **_**not**_** mix well…we're like water and oil. During school? Uh…..it's like pouring water into water. We mix so well you can't tell the particles apart. ;D I'm just that good, haha.**

**2) Ok, so, this was a slightly short chapter. Shorter than the next chapter, but it's not nearly as short as the first chapter. Buh. Only 2k words? Puh-lease.**

**This chapter is over 3k words. The next chapter? ….over 7k words. If you include the A/N anyway. No, the A/N does not take up 4k D: …That'd be horrible. I'd smack myself for it. But, anyway. The A/N is only about 1k …..yea. Still long, but still. Not smackable for me. Lol.**

**3) Oh **_**hai**_** I didn't see you there. :3 How're you today? Oh, I've been talking to you this whole time? Huh…didn't realize that…**

**4) Ohhh! **_**Ohhhh! **_** Guess. **_**What!**_** I got a new keyboard and mouse! **_**Finally!**_** My last mouse had been slammed down too many times, so the scroll wheel didn't work right on the window's, erm, windows. Then a chunk of that plastic stuff on the scroll wheel was missing, and yeah…-clears throat- I got pissed at it, ok? D= it was messing me up…**

**5) Anyway, the new mouse and keyboard are friggin **_**great**_**! :3 The new keyboard is wireless! So is the mouse! (even though my other mouse is wireless as well..and smaller, but eh.) They're both black. And have silver on them. ;D ….Well, the mouse does. The keyboard has white on it. -stares at the keys that the indicators for the keys are white then glances at screen and smiles sheepishly- So, it's all black. Except for the ink part on it. ^o^" Good news is that this has a battery indicator on it!~ It hasn't flashed yet, but I'm just waiting for it to. D: **

**6) By the way, I don't like this chapter. At all. -scowls at chapter- It insults me. D: I feel like it's…like it's so rushed that I just shoved people into a closet and said have fun, become lovers, lovers filled with love anyway. Yeah, you can't do that. D: I feel like I'm forcing myself onto someone or somet-Ok, that's just getting a bit creepy**

**7) By the way, I do NOT own Naruto. I totally wish I did but, alas, I don't…-sighs- Sadface…..**

**8) I LOVE YOU ALL. Gimme a review and I'll give you a cookie the size of Manhattan and Texas put together. ;D NO. …The size of ASIA. =D If you can read this and you live in Asia, I'll give you a cookie the size of Asia doubled on each other and smashed together to stretch larger (but not flatter~ [there is no logic in that, but whatever.])**

**9) Live in Japan? I'll give you a cookie **_**three times**_** of the Asia that I describe above [you know, the non-logical one]**

**10) **_**Oh!**_** Sudden thought. Who all here are Trek-y's, eh? **_**Vulcan's all the way, baby!**_** All flamers will get the Vulcan Death Grip~ Don't know what it is? ….Flame me and you'll find out. Don't wanna find out? Don't flame me. ;D Such great logic, right? :3 **_** I love you all, good night. :3**_

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	3. The Adjustments

_**Pain of Siblings 03: The Adjustments**_

The next morning, Sakura woke up to a strange place.

So what did she do? She did what any normal girl would do.

She screamed.

She heard a door slam, a repetition of hammered footsteps, before her own door was slammed open and an old man was running into her room, a kunai held in his hands

"What's wrong, Sakura!" He said and wiped his head around. Sakura stared blankly at him thinking _What the…_

He looked at Sakura to see her confusion and he sighed and put his kunai in the holster on his thigh before he walked over to the bed. At her tensing and her eyes widening, it clicked on why she screamed.

He stopped and his eyes softened. "Sakura, do you know who I am?" He asked and she shook her head. "My name is Sarutobi. You're living with me now because I adopted you in a sense." He said and Sakura looked at him shocked before suddenly it all clicked into place.

"Oh…sorry Sarutobi-sama. I forgot.." She muttered and he smiled, walking towards her, before he ruffled her hair softly.

"Eh, it's ok. Yesterday was rather hectic for you, huh." He said and she smiled before she threw the covers off of herself and got up and stretched. "Well, you had better get ready. Just put on the clothes from yesterday and we'll go shopping for you." He said and she smiled and nodded.

He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him with a click. He mushroom sighed and headed back to his own room to get ready. On his way to his room, he caught a glance of the sky. "So…we've got about three hours before the Academy starts…hm…" he mumbled before he went off to his room.

**-Later; Shopping-**

On their way into town, Sakura managed to become one of the happiest eight year olds Sarutobi has seen in all of his years of fatherhood. She was skipping while holding his hands, sometimes forcing him to skip along side her. Which, he would gladly do all day if he wouldn't get so tired so fast.

_Note to self: Require kids to learn how to skip for long periods of times. Skipping is a good exercise for your legs. _Sarutobi thought with a sweatdrop.

The shop owners were just opening up, so they would wave at Sarutobi and call out "Good morning, Hokage-sama!" before heading into their shop to get set up, since most will be opening up in about an hour or so.

Before Sakura could force Sarutobi to start skipping again, he told her to stop walking for a moment. She looked up at him curiously and he pointed to a store that looked to, obviously, be for ninja clothing. "Here's our stop. Ah, that reminds me, Sakura-chan, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get you one ninja outfit and then I'll give you a little tour of Konoha to pass the time. Afterwards, I'll take you to the Academy.

After the academy lets out, there will be a female Jounin waiting for you. She'll know who you are, so don't be alarmed when you hear someone call for you. The Jounin will take you shopping for the rest of your clothes. She'll know what all you need to buy, alright, Sakura-chan?" Sarutobi asked with a smile plastered onto his face.

Sakura smiled at him happily. "Mmhmm!"

Five minute later, Sakura trotted out in a new kunoichi outfit. The outfit was a black kunoichi dress that went to her knees. At her hips, there were two slits that reached the bottom hem of the dress. The larger black flap of the dress was cut in two, but the slit started above her waist. The edges of the dress were a dark gray. On the back of the dress was a symbol, stitched in gray. The symbol seemed to be multiple rings around a colored in circle. Sakura didn't know why, but she liked that symbol a lot, so she bought a choker that had that symbol. The choker was a black ribbon with the symbol on a metal piece that rested gently on her collar bone. In the middle of the rings, instead of the filled-in circle, was a black jewel.

Under the dress, she had on a pair of gray shorts that had her new kunai pouch on it. On the front of the kunai pouch was a patch of a skull and crossbones. The kunai pouch wrapped around her legs by two inch wide straps. The straps were wrapped in white bandages but left a ¼ inch of black material that seemed to pooch out from the bandages.

The sleeves of the dress went to the top of her biceps. There was a slit on her sleeves that pointed away from her body. She had bandages wrapped around her arm from the bottom of her bicep to the middle of her forearm. The bandages were wrapped loosely so she could still bend her elbow correctly. She had on regular ninja shoes, although they were black.

Sarutobi snorted at her choice in clothing but said nothing to her, especially after she sent him a small glare. The little girl had quite the glare.

"What're we going to tour, Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked sheepishly, a small blush powdering her cheeks.

Sarutobi grinned down at her, his larger hand in her smaller one. "Well, Sakura-chan, I thought we could go look at a few compounds of Konoha." Sakura looked up at him slightly confused.

"Compounds?"

Sarutobi chuckled at her before he took his hand out of hers and put a hand on her head. "Yes, Sakura-chan, compounds. They are areas that have houses for a certain clan. Only that clan can live in this compound." Sakura 'o'd at him, her eyes twinkling slightly.

"How many are there in Konoha, Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked, her lips in a slight pout at knowing that she wasn't allowed to go into some places.

"Compounds you mean?" Sakura nodded slightly and Sarutobi looked around him and noticed that some people were waving at him and some women were cooing over Sakura. "There's quite a few different clans here in Konoha. If I'm not mistaken, there's around ten major, maybe one or two more." Sakura awed at the amount of clans.

**-Elsewhere-**

"Pein-sama, are you able to get the information?" A female voice asked Pein. Pein sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Yes, although hardly. I will have to concentrate on her for long periods of time before it all becomes clear once more." Pein announced, opening his Rin'negan eyes and seemingly glaring at the paperwork. _Maybe it will burn into flames this time…_

Konan stared at Pein with a sweatdrop before she chuckled and began to walk towards the door.

"Ah-Konan?" Pein asked, his eyes now placed on called woman. Konan turned to him and looked him in the eye.

"Yes, Pein-sama?"

"Please get me Zetsu. I do not want Orochimaru or anyone trying to take my sister." Pein said, a frown on his face. Konan looked at him for a moment before she nodded.

"Right away then." Konan muttered before walking out of the door, her thoughts on the cherry blossom that remained in Konoha.

Minutes later, a man slowly creeped up from the earth and stood in front of the desk.

"Did you want me for something, Leader-sama?" the man asked.

Pein cleared his throat before speaking. "Zetsu, I have a mission for you."

"How long will this mission last?"

Pein's eyes seemed to gleam with mirth, a smirk firmly placed on his lips. "Around eight years."

"Sarutobi-sama?" Sakura asked wearily as she stared at the broken windows of the buildings around her. She stared at the graffiti around her and all of the mess on the ground.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" Sarutobi hummed softly, trying to keep his voice down in the bad neighborhood.

"Where are we? This doesn't look like a compound…" Sakura muttered and Sarutobi seemed to tense then look at her sheepishly.

"Well, no, Sakura-chan, this isn't a compound. I've got a friend here that I want you to meet…" Sarutobi said, eyeing an apartment building. "He needs a friend and I think he'll come to like you, Sakura-chan." Sarutobi said, now looking down at her with a wide smile.

Sakura looked at him uneasily but followed him nonetheless.

Soon, Sarutobi knocked on the door of the small apartment building.

"Mmph!" came a startled voice followed by a loud thump and a yelp from a male. Sakura tensed and got behind Sarutobi's leg slightly. Sarutobi smiled and rubbed a hand on Sakura's head affectionately. Sakura edged out from behind his leg to glare at him softly.

Soon the door opened and a little boy about the age of eight stepped into the doorway.

Sakura gaped at him, while Sarutobi blushed slightly.

The boy was in nothing but boxers and his silly sleeping hat.

The boy rubbed his eyes once then looked up at the two people. First he looked to the tallest one (_Oh, it's Sarutobi…..I didn't do anything…did I?) _ then he looked at the smaller one (_Is that….)_

"A girl!" the boy yelled, his cheeks flushed a deep red color.

Sarutobi laughed softly before telling the boy, "Go get dressed for the academy, Naruto-chan. I'll walk you to the academy."

"Ne, Jii-san, I told you to stop calling me Naruto-chan!" Naruto said loudly, causing someone to bang on his walls in annoyance at his loudness.

Sakura's cheeks were completely red as well, even after the boy nodded and slammed the door on their faces.

Sarutobi looked down at Sakura with a grin.

"It'll be just a second."

Just a minute or two later, after a series of loud crashes, bangs, and curses, Naruto came out fully clothed and ready for the academy.

He looked at Sakura curiously before smiling and holding out his hand. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the greatest Hokage, believe it!" He loudly announced, causing yet another series of bangs on his wall to ensue.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and without even thinking about it, she basically phased to that spot in the wall and literally punched a hole through the wall.

"You wanna keep punching the wall, lady? Cause I can punch walls to. See?" Sakura yelled before punching another hole in the wall, this time on the other side of the lady. "See how easy it is!" She said, punching a third hole. The lady on the other side of the wall looked at her shocked before she slowly backed up.

"S-Sorry…" She mumbled and Sakura snorted at her before staring at the holes for a moment.

…_.When have I ever been able to punch holes in the wall, effortlessly? _Sakura thought before another thought came into her mind.

She turned to Naruto and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, rolling on the ball of her feet nervously. "Ah, sorry about your wall, Naruto." She said before laughing nervously.

Naruto and Sarutobi gaped at her before Sarutobi cleared his throat and strode to the holes in the wall. He examined them then looked at the shocked, yet recovering civilian on the other side of the wall.

"Ah, I apologize for the wall. I'll have someone come to repair it later today." Sarutobi said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Of course you will, Hokage-sama!" The woman gritted through closed teeth as a vein bulged in her forehead and even a vein bulged on her enclosed, shaking fist.

Sarutobi looked like he wanted to say something but instead opted for silence as he slowly walked out of Naruto's apartment and shut the door. The three stayed silent for a few minutes more before Naruto finally cracked.

"Wow, that was awesome!" He cheered loudly and Sakura laughed nervously.

"Ah, yeah, sure, I guess…" She mumbled. She then stuck her hand out to Naruto, making both boys have to stop, since she stopped. "I never got to introduce myself," She stated, smiling broadly "My name is Sakura Haruno, and I hope to get my memories back. I'll wish you luck on your quest if you wish me luck on mine!" Sakura said, winking at the end. Naruto smiled largely and hugged her tightly, making her blush and Sarutobi grin widely.

"OK! I wish you luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled before he let go of her and the two grinned at each other.

"Alright kids, lets head over to the academy!" Sarutobi said in a sing-song voice. Naruto looked so happy that he thought he could burst.

"You're going to the academy to?" Naruto asked and Sakura smiled and nodded.

"She'll be in your class, Naruto-chan, now let's get moving! We've got ten minutes until class starts!"

The three managed to make it to class with three minutes until class started. Sarutobi used those three minutes to get Sakura situated into the class, Iruka helping him. Iruka told Sakura where she could sit, and who she'd be sitting beside, who happened to be Sasuke.

Naruto smiled towards her while Sasuke glared at anything and everything he could glare at. After the bell rang, the class went silent. Well, most of them did.

"Mou, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked him softly and he merely glanced at her, so she knew he was listening. Naruto turned to look at her as well, hoping that she wasn't falling for the teme. "Why're you so grumpy?" She asked sweetly. Naruto busted out laughing, making most of the kids in the class turn to him and glare, before the girls started to stare at Sakura and Sasuke.

Sasuke was glaring full daggers at Sakura while Sakura merely smiled sweetly.

"None of your business, Forehead." He sneered and the girls in the class snickered at Sakura's new nickname.

Sakura blinked before she reached up and felt her forehead. She thought for a few minutes before shrugging and saying,

"At least my hair isn't shaped like a chicken's butt. Of course, it could be worse, and be like your face, buuut…" Sakura trailed off when she saw smoke almost literally coming out of Sasuke's ears.

"Why you-" Sasuke started but was interrupted by Naruto's laughter reaching a whole new level, and this time, Sakura's joining in.

"Oh man, that was a good one, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, clapping a hand on her shoulder. Iruka and Sarutobi watched the three communicate wearily.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke sneered at Naruto, making both kids stop laughing. Sakura was glaring at him, ice daggers almost impaling him at the magnitude of her glare. Sasuke ignored her though-or, well, he tried. It was hard not to imagine being impaled by ice….

"What'd you call me, teme!" Naruto called out making Iruka finally break up the argument.

"Naruto Uzumaki! You will not use that sort of language in my class room!"

"Meh, sensei, Chicken Butt started it though." Sakura said to Iruka, defending her friend.

"I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it. Now class is starting, so everyone get in your seats." Iruka called out and Sakura turned to Sasuke and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Baka" She mumbled to him and he glared at her, making her grin at him before grinning towards Iruka's back.

"Today class, we have a new student. Sakura, why don't you introduce yourself?" Iruka said, putting a hand on her head. She pouted up at him before looking out towards all of the kids.

"Iruka-sensei? What all do I need to tell about myself?" Sakura asked softly and some of the girls snorted at her, although Sakura ignored them, though the twitch of her eyebrow let others know that she heard.

"Oh, uhm, just the basic informati-" Iruka stopped since he suddenly remembered that she didn't remember anything. "Oh uhm…" Iruka rubbed the back of his neck nervously and Sakura tilted her head at him. "Anything you can remember about yourself that you feel should be included in your introduction." Iruka said and most of the kids got confused but Sakura's mouth was merely in the shape of an 'o' as she turned back towards the kids, having turned to Iruka to speak with him.

"My name is Sakura Haruno and my goal currently is to remember everything about myself." Sakura said, winking at the end before she continued "And before you ask, pink is not my favorite color, and nor is black. I just preferred the black clothes over the other colors. Also, this is my real hair color, and let's be civil and not make petty insults about people physical form, people. That's just low." Sakura said the last while looking directly into Sasuke's eyes, both in a glaring contest.

"Now Sakura-chan.." Iruka said, sweatdropping while he looked at the two glaring kids. From what Sarutobi told him about her strength, he knew not to let her get into fights. He didn't want kids to have holes in their head. "Well, Sakura-chan, you can go back to your seat now." Iruka said, pushing her forward lightly to compel her to her seat, which she complied and went to her seat.

"Well lookie here, if it isn't Forehead!" A purple haired girl said, grinning down at the girl in the middle of the girls class. Today, the girl were learning about flowers and herbs, and their teacher had sent them off to look for certain flowers.

All of the kids had a sheet of paper with a list, picture, and a description on the flowers that they had to find, pick (correctly, since some flowers are more delicate than others,) and return to the teacher as a bouquet.

Sakura merely glanced at the girl before she sat on the ground and placed her basket of flowers to her right side, the handle of the flower basket still in the crease of her bent elbow.

She read over the flowers and observed the pictures of the flowers for a minute before her paper was taken. As her paper was being taken, someone stepped on her basket of flowers. Sadly, they also stepped on her arm.

Sakura hissed at the slight pain of the shoe before she glared at Ami who had the paper and was already tearing it in two. Ami glared down at Sakura and made sure to rub her foot's sole into Sakura's arm, effectively smashing some of the flowers and nearly ripping some of the bandages off.

Sakura glared at Ami, once again showing those ice daggers. Ami merely smirked at the pain on Sakura's face.

The pain was soon showing only on Ami's face.

Sakura used her left hand (the hand that had been holding onto the paper) to push Ami with enough pressure to shove her away.

Ami hissed when her left knee scraped on a rock as she went down. When she stopped, a flower was in her mouth.

Oh, Sakura could have prevented these events from happening. She thought about catching the girl's foot, but what would that teach the shrimp? Nothing, that's what. So, why not teach it to her?

"W-Wha-" Ami began before suddenly she was staring into icy green eyes. Her hair was being pulled, but she didn't care for that, other than putting a hand on Sakura's to hold herself up so her hair won't be pulled as much.

"You know, just because I don't remember anything, does not mean that I've forgotten what my bodies learned. To me, you are moving in slow motion. I suggest you stop trying to bully me. Why?" Sakura brought her face closer to Ami's slightly flushed face. "Because I will grind you into the dirt before shoving you into the river over the bridge so you can meet your other shrimp family." Sakura smirked deviously, not noticing a blonde girl looking straight at her face in shock. "You got that, _Shrimp?_"

Ami nodded furiously before Sakura let her go and grabbed the paper back. "By the way, you try to communicate with me again, I won't be as nice." Sakura added as another thought.

Ami then scrambled up and ran.

As Sakura watched the girl run, she finally saw the blonde haired blue eyed girl. Sakura raised an eyebrow and waved at her. The girl gulped and started walking towards her.

"Wow, that was…." The girl mumbled shocked before she shook her head and smiled at the girl and held out her hand, which Sakura took. "Hi, my name's Ino Yamanaka!" She announced then pointed behind her where she knew her mom was (it was only a general area of where she'd last seen her mom, but unknown to her, her mom was walking towards the two.) "The teacher is my mom, so if you get in any trouble, you can just come to me" Ino said before winking then giggling, knowing that Sakura winked at the class earlier.

Sakura giggled with her "Will do. In fact, I may need you before I get to say hello back." Sakura said, amusement in her gaze.

Ino glanced behind her then looked to Sakura only to do a double take.

"Haruno Sakura!" The teacher called furiously, stomping towards her, a grinning Ami behind her.

"Wow, she really told on you?" Ino mumbled softly "Lame." Sakura giggled softly, making Mrs. Yamanaka glare at her harsher.

"Did you hit Ami?" Mrs. Yamanaka asked, getting straight to the point.

Sakura merely nodded and before she could defend herself, Ino cut in.

"Mom, from your expression, I can tell that Ami lied to you." Ino stated, making Mrs. Yamanaka raise an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah? Then do _you_ want to explain to me what happened, Ino-chan?" She asked harshly, although less so than she had towards Sakura.

Ino pointed to Sakura's arm where her bandage still had Ami's foot print. Before Mrs. Yamanaka could speak, Ino held up a finger to motion for her to be quiet for a minute.

She the pointed to the halfway smashed basket and some of the ruined flowers that lay in the basket. Mrs. Yamanaka's face transformed to one of understanding and she then looked towards Ami harshly.

"Young lady, you have some explaining to do. As your punishment, you will stay after class and you automatically fail this assignment. Do something like this again, Ami, and I'll fail you." Mrs. Yamanaka said before she grasped Ami's bicep and started pulling the fearful girl along.

Mrs. Yamanaka then stopped and turned to Sakura and Ino with a smile. "If you like, Sakura, I can give you some extra time to gather your flowers. If you need a new basket, just find me and I'll supply you with another one." She said and Ino and Sakura smiled and nodded towards her.

"Mama, why doesn't Sakura just use Ami's basket?" Ino asked and Mrs. Yamanaka nodded and looked at Ami who reluctantly held her battered basket to Sakura.

Sakura took the basket without even glancing at Ami.

Mrs. Yamanaka then glanced at Ami once more. "Ami, apologize to Sakura." She said and Ami looked up at her, her eyes telling her no. Mrs. Yamanaka's eyes narrowed into slits "Ami, I told you to do something, and I expect it to be done." She said coldly, making Ami look to the ground before looking at Sakura, her eyes narrowed into slits, although Mrs. Yamanaka either couldn't tell or just ignored this fact.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Ami said before 'hmph'ing snidely while turning her head to the side to stare off at nothing.

Mrs. Yamanaka sighed at the girls poor behavior. _Hopefully, that gets fixed…. _She thought softly before she cleared her throat and smiled at Sakura. "I'm sorry for misunderstanding the situation, Sakura." She said before she finally turned around again and began to drag the muttering girl along, every so often getting onto her for her choice of language and behavior.

The two girls remained silent before suddenly they both busted into laughter. They both doubled over and nearly fell to the floor if it wasn't for the fact that they now had a hand on each other's shoulder to keep off the ground.

A minute later, the two finally managed to stand up straight again, although they were still chuckling and spurting random giggles and snorts.

Ino wiped away a tear and clapped Sakura on the back, making Sakura let loose a snorting sound, instilling even more laughter from the girls.

Finally, their laughter began to die down. Once their laughter died down to where both were merely smiling and their eyes were laughing, Ino shook hands with Sakura again.

"I believe that this marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Sakura grinned at her. "Now then, lets go get those flowers…"

Waving bye to her friend Ino, Sakura walked out of the academy only to hear someone call her name. As her name was called, Sakura heard an object coming towards her. She looked forward to see a senbon that was seemingly headed straight towards her. Sakura stared at the senbon, waiting for the senbon to get closer (remember, everything seems to be going in slow motion) before she merely plucked the utensil out of the air then flicking it back to where the projectile came from.

She looked to the direction where she flicked the senbon only to see a woman with a cloak and fishnets on with a senbon between her teeth, a shocked look in her eyes, and a grin on her face.

"So, I assume you're Sakura, right?"

Sakura walked towards the lady, narrowing her eyes into a cold look at the lady. "Ah. That I am." She confirmed for the lady.

"Well, good. I was getting tired of waiting. My name is Anko Mitarashi and I'm supposed to take you shopping." Anko said, pointing proudly to herself by the end of the sentence.

Sakura stared at her for a moment before she tilted her head. "Lovely." She said dryly before she began to walk towards the town.

"Do you like shopping?" Sakura asked Anko randomly as they walked down the road to the shopping district.

Anko groaned "No, actually, I hate it. But seeing as your style isn't all bright and colorful, hopefully I'll be fine." She said with a pout on her lips.

Sakura grinned "My favorite clothes are dark styled clothes. I especially like the clothes with this type of symbol on them." Sakura said before stopping and showing Anko the back of her dress.

Anko stared at it oddly for a minute before she said "Huh. I wonder why."

"Did Sarutobi-sama tell you that I have amnesia?" Sakura asked, trying to observe Anko more closely by talking to her.

Anko looked down at her. "Actually, yeah. That's why I kind of wonder why you like the symbol. Have you ever seen it before?" She asked, mentally wondering if she could help the girl get some of her memory back.

"It seems really familiar, but other than that, I don't think I've ever seen it. It seems pretty significant, though." Sakura hummed out softly and Anko shrugged, bringing up theories in her mind.

"By the way, how do you have such good reflexes? You're eight, that was a damn good throw. I think it poked the back of my jaw." Anko said to the girl and Sakura smirked at her.

"You're welcome, by the way." Sakura hummed again, a smile on her face. Her smile vanished whenever she answered the question. "It's weird, really. It's almost like my instincts are very sharp. If I see something come towards me, it's almost as if the object or person is coming at me in slow motion and I'm the only thing operating at a regular pace. Once I've got a plan in mind, it's like time returns to normal and I am able to do exactly what I thought." She said casually, almost as if she was saying hello to someone she saw everyday.

"Slow motion?" Anko thought out loud subconsciously as she tapped her chin softly in thought. "Have you told the Hokage about that?" She finally asked after a moment of walking and thinking.

"I didn't think it was necessary, plus, I didn't really notice it until earlier." Sakura shrugged and stopped in front of a shop of ninja clothing. Anko took another step forward before finally stopping.

Anko turned to Sakura and asked her curiously "So, what did make you notice it?" Sakura looked up at Anko, only to see complete curiosity.

_So, she's observing me as well?_ Sakura thought before she answered "A class bully was trying to bully me during class. Let's just say, she won't be bothering me again." Sakura said, amusement gleaming in her eyes.

Anko looked amused as well. She finally turned to the store and said "Come on, you can tell me about what happened while we're in the store shopping" Sakura smiled and nodded.

Ten minutes later, they were walking out of the store, both females laughing at Sakura's story of her day.

"So, the Uchiha is as moody and grumpy as they say, huh?" Anko asked, mirth and amusement still plain in her eyes.

"Oh yes, very grumpy at least. I haven't seen the moody part, only the grumpy part." She said, a shit-eating grin plastered on her face as her and Anko went to the next store.

As they walked down to other stores, they talked about random things that they thought was funny. Usually, if one thought something was funny, the other thought it was funny as well and they'd share a few laughs.

Anko was finding it to be easier and easier to talk to the little girl of eight years old and was even closer to asking her the question that Sarutobi was wanting her to ask so badly.

_Flashback-Begin_

"_Anko, I have a favor to ask of you…" Sarutobi said and Anko looked at him with a cocked eyebrow and a hand on her hip._

"_Oh? And what would that be, Sarutobi-sama?"_

"_If you begin to like Sakura, please ask her to live with you." Anko stared at the old man confused._

"_You've _got_ to be shitting me, old man. You can't think, even for a second, that I'm going to take in some brat with pink hair." Anko said snidely although she managed to keep some respect in her voice. Just a little….just a tiiiny bit…_

_Sarutobi sighed "That is exactly why I said _if_, Anko." Sarutobi said sternly and Anko straightened up, the amusement in her eyes well gone by now. "I have a feeling you'll like her, though, Anko. Also, I'm asking because I am Hokage, so that means that I cannot take care of a child as I once could have. I've got too many things to do and take care of." Sarutobi sighed again and took out a cigar and lit it up with a match box that he has in his hidden stash of cigars._

"_But why me, Hokage-sama? Why not one of the other female Jounin? Why _me_?" Anko asked, a desperate tone in her voice._

_Sarutobi looked at her for a moment before he let out a puff of smoke and sighed in happiness at some of the stress relief._

"_I admit, you aren't the first on my list to take care of a child, Anko. In fact, to be honest, you're one of the last ones on the list. Sadly, all the other people on my list are either people who are too busy as well—what with being ANBU or working in an important sect in our government—or they are just unable to take care of a child. Kurenai has a team of her own, and I would much rather not put her with any males. I will have to, though, if you do not ask her at one point. After all, I am pretty sure she would want a female to be with rather than a male. She is a child, and she will go through puberty at one point in life….males generally don't like that phase, you see…" his voice trailed off and Anko understood why now._

_Even though she still hated having take care of a kid. "Oh god damn it. Alright. I'll ask the brat. But _only_ if I like her. If I don't like her, trust me, I ain't askin'." _

_Flashback-End_

Oh yes. Now she could see why he had asked her-no, wait, _told_ her to at least ask the kid about he situation.

By now, their shopping trips almost done and the conversation's finally dying out.

"Say kid, I gotta question for ya'." Anko started and Sakura stopped and looked up at her. Sakura and Anko's hands were full of mostly clothes. The types of clothes were mostly either ninja clothes, weaponry (there was a special case for the weapons since they wouldn't put the weapons in boxes-what if there was a break in? They've got every weapon they need right in their store,) or civilian clothes. Some people like to wear civilian clothes when not on ninja business (especially the littler kids) although Anko could tell, Sakura wouldn't want to stop wearing her ninja clothes.

She looked way too comfortable to not be in ninja clothing. And frankly, she could relate to that.

Sakura looked up at Anko with a tilt of her head. "What is it, Anko-chan?" Sakura asked and Anko grinned down at her.

"The Hokage asked-erm, _told_ me to ask you something." Anko bent down since they were heading towards the Hokage's office and there were no people around. They were already in the hallway leading to the office, so they could put the bags down. In fact, they were in front of the Hokage's office.

Sakura tilted her head at Anko, waiting for the question.

Anko inhaled sharply. "Would you like to live with me?" Anko asked out in a rush of air and Sakura stood there taken aback.

"Ah…" Sakura let out the sound as she thought it through.

"Would you like the reasons of why I'm asking?" Anko asked, hoping that the kid wouldn't feel like a burden if she did ask her.

Sakura nodded and Anko inhaled again, although this time, she exhaled before she began to speak. "The Hokage is a very busy man. He has paperwork and duties to fulfill _as_ Hokage, therefore he's afraid he won't have enough time to look after you." Sakura nodded in understanding at this and Anko looked slightly relieved. "Plus, it's either you choose me, or you get a man to take care of you." Sakura's nose crinkled in a cute manor and even Anko thought it was a cute action.

"So would you like to stay with Anko-san instead, Sakura-chan?" A voice asked from behind a slightly opened door. Anko glanced through the crack of the door to see part of an old man-the old man being Sarutobi, of course.

Sakura looked at him slightly alarmed before she answered him. "I wouldn't mind staying with Anko-chan, if that is what needs to happen. If you both feel that it is necessary, then I will not reject this offer." Sakura said honestly and the two grown-ups smiled.

Anko suddenly looked slightly surprised. "I only live in an apartment, since I'm there only half of the time, so it may be a bit small. I'll need a bit of time to clean up, so would you rather stay with me in my guest room—that's currently being used as a storage room—or would you like to stay at Sarutobi's?" Anko asked and Sarutobi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I'm afraid that she's going to have to stay at your house, Anko, regardless of the mess. I won't be able to get home until later tonight, and with Sakura's lack of memory, I'd be worrying about her all night. The elders are grinding on my ass-oops, sorry-to get all of this da-all of this paper work done, so it may be well until the morning before I can even step foot into my house." Sarutobi said sheepishly and Sakura nodded.

"I understand, Sarutobi-sama, even though I could take care of myself, I can understand why you would worry." Sakura then looked at the two curiously. "By the way, do you think I could look at the medical records that the hospital collected together?" When the two adults looked at her confused, she explained further, "Their findings may be something important to me but not important to you, so it could strike a remembrance in me." Sarutobi and Anko understood as their mouths were in a 'o'

"Here, let me go write up a piece of paper, saying you can look at those. Those are usually personal, and they don't let anyone look at the records-only the Hokage and who they deem necessary. They only let those with the Hokage's permission look at the records." Sarutobi looked slightly annoyed as he wrote on a piece of paper. He then asked Sakura to sign the paper, which she did, before he nodded. "Once you leave, I'll begin on a sort of adoption form for the two of you." Anko looked startled.

"W-What? A-Adoption!" Anko looked appalled and Sakura looked slightly shocked.

"Well, like I said, a _sort of_ adoption form. You won't be really adopting her, but it's saying that you are her guardian until further notice." Sarutobi explained and the two girls let out a sigh of relief, not even bothering trying to hide it since they know the other was panicked as well.

Anko suddenly got an idea "Ne, old man, can I train her?" Anko asked and Sarutobi and Sakura looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Sakura's face suddenly lit up in acceptance and understanding. "Are you thinking that maybe something will strike familiarity as well?"

"Exactly." Anko said and Sarutobi looked slightly confused.

"Has she had ninja training already…?" He asked and Sakura fidgeted slightly and Anko looked down at her knowingly and patiently.

"Ah…" Sakura inhaled "I do believe that, at one point in life, I was being trained. I am eight years old, but I am too fast to have not been trained in the art of the ninja." Sakura said and with her eyes closed, she grabbed five senbon and a kunai out of the air that Anko (seemingly having flickered to the other end of the hallway out of no where)had thrown at her seconds before.

She opened her eyes to see Sarutobi tensed (afraid that the weapons would hit the girl-they were thrown with major killer intent!)and staring slightly shocked at the weapons in her hands. Either unnoticed or unacknowledged by Sarutobi, Anko appeared in her original place as if she'd never moved. The only thing different was the smirk on her face.

"They appear in slow motion to me. My instincts are _very_ in tune with everything that goes on around me. Basically, if my senses feel killer intent or an intent to hurt me, my brain goes into overdrive and I basically see everything in slow motion except for myself. I assume this is the result of extensive training." Sakura said before she finally cracked a smile. Her cold, calculated voice was starting to kind of concern Sarutobi….

Sarutobi smiled at her. "Alright, I'll allow Anko to train you." Sarutobi then glanced up at Anko. Sarutobi had bent over while she was talking to him. "But, it will not be extensive training. We don't need Sakura-chan getting hurt, right?" Sarutobi grinned and Anko smirked at him.

"A-lright, this'll be fun." Anko said, licking her lips. "Come on, Sakura-chan, let's go get you situated." Anko said getting as many of the bags into her hands as she could. "Just a warning though," Anko started before she grinned at Sakura again "I'm a harsh teacher. So I won't go easy on you."

Sakura chuckled "I don't want you to be easy on me, Anko-_sensei_." Sakura said and Anko and Sakura laughed leaving Sarutobi to shake his head at the odd couple.

"Women" he snorted before walking back into his office, only to groan at the amount of paperwork. "Raaahhh!" Sarutobi roared, "damn you paperwork, damn you!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN You guys can skip the A/N if you want to and don't want to listen to my insanity. I'll forgive you. Just read number 8 and maybe number 10. (To be honest, I don't really care if you read it or not, lol, it's just got some information that people MAY like to know...)**

**1) Soooo. You like? ;D I do. Very much so. It's so long and delicious. I got finished with the newest chapter of House Calls (I LOVE YOU SPOILED SWEET. o.o) SO I feel like using the word "delicious" (the description of House Calls she used sounded delicious! Here, I'll do a quote for ya' : **_**"Think of House Calls as the delicious, lightly whipped vanilla frosting on top of a cupcake made of clouds"**_** -House Calls written by Spoiled Sweet. ) Yeah. Sound good? It sounds DELICIOUS. -licks lips- Oh I want a cupcake made out of clouds with a delicious, lightly whipped vanilla frosting of KakaSaku on top…-drools- Delicious~**

**2) Yeah, I love how Spoiled Sweet does her A/N's, so Ima steal it. Buwahaha. Nah, I'm kidding. o.o I don't really think you can **_**steal**_** how someone writes an author(ess) note, but still.**

**3) This was a SUPAH friggin' long chapter. -drools- My favorite chapters are the really, really long ones that blow my mind by how long they are and make me think "Holy crap!" Wanna know how many words it is? (Not including this A/N anyway)**

**It's 6,706 words long! **_**Ohhh snap!**_

**4) Anyway, onto what I really wanted to say! -clears throat and orders a drum roll with a side of cloud cupcake an-**

**5) Oh crap. I forgot it. Damn it. Lemme think again. D=**

**6) As I'm thinking on that…sadly, I start school in two days. I start school on Monday, August 15, 2011. D= I'm a junior though!~ -dances- I've already got my schedule and I have to say. I'm kind of nervous about it, although it's kind of an excited sort of nervous.**

**Maybe now I'll stop dreaming about school. D=**

**7) Nope. I still cannot remember what I was going to say…OH. I REMEMER NOW.**

**8) Sadly, this chapter stroke the bell that signifies that it's the end of Arc I! (For those of you who don't know what I mean by Arc I, I mean Arc 1) **

**9) Yes SAD day. But it's ok. I've got three arcs left. I'll tell you when the bell of the end of the Arc sounds. If I can remember anyway. :3 I have no idea how long this fanfiction will be, but if I do long chapters like this, it'll hardly be into the double digit numbers. Maybe 10 or 11, even.**

**That's if I am able to continue it. I made my updating day Friday, though, so I could gather information and hopefully get inspiration during school. Every once in a while I get free time and if I'm allowed, I like to think. What do I think about? Fanfictions~ So, I'll try to stick with this fanfiction, because I know if I get another idea, I won't work on this one for a while. I've got an idea for a one shot and I've got the beginning wrote, but I won't work on it until I'm pretty far into this story. D= **

**10) Just for a quick last note (Other than the fact that I do not own Naruto in any way) If you find something that makes no sense or does not include logic (logic is my best friend….) TELL ME. I don't even care if it's in a PM or a review! …By the way, I love reviews. A lot. I like them more than popsicles and chicken nuggets. (Oh no, chicken nuggets, I'll never love anything more than you! FORGIVE MEE) [my love for reviews vs. chicken nuggets: reviews chicken nuggets] (THEY READ THEM NOOOO) -clears throat- Anyway. As my inner persona is being ate by the chicken nugget mo-ok, so, now she's eating the chicken nugget monster… **

**No, I am not on crack.**

**Nor smoking anything or drinking or taking pills. Or sniffing anything. I swear. I swear to JESUS CHRIST. O.o -please Jesus don't strike me down because I used your name in a fanfiction. I do not own you D=-**

**11) Like I'm doing now, whenever I finally put this chappy up, I may end up making more end notes. Just a warning…(damn it. I'm over 7k words D=)**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	4. The Surprise

**Congratulations, you made it to: Arc II! Continue reading for the newest chapter of:**

_**Pain of Siblings 04: The Surprise**_

Five years later, Sakura was awoken by flipping off of the bed to miss a pile of boxes that would have hit her in the gut. The thing that woke her totally up to her senses was her now "adopted" mother laughing at her from behind the still lightly shaking pillar of boxes.

"Mou," Anko started "You've even got your fast reflexes when you're dead asleep." Anko's lips curled up in a secret, evil smirk. "I'm surprised, actually, that you would allow yourself to fall completely asleep." Anko sat back on the window pane and twirled a kunai on the very tip of her finger. "Most ninja won't let themselves fall asleep, you see. Of course, you _do_ have the heightened reflexes…" Anko began before she suddenly threw the kunai at Sakura, who dodged the kunai by merely tilting her head to the right.

A line of blood appeared on her cheek from the kunai. Anko blinked at her while Sakura's jaw slackened.

"Why didn't you fully dodge it?" Anko asked, her jaw also unhinged in disbelief. Sakura stared past Anko's head as she suddenly got a flash of a hand holding a piece of paper. The flash was for only a second, but the only thing Sakura really paid attention to was the ring on the man's right thumb. The mere shape of the hand told her it was a man.

When she snapped back to reality there was a hand in her face. She immediately caught the hand and began to put pressure onto the wrist, although she noticed it was Anko by the time Anko winced and twitched at the pain.

"Ah, sorry, Anko-chan." Sakura mumbled before she pushed away from the wall she had been pressed up against. Anko shook her head and shot Sakura a shit-eating grin.

"So, I heard that you're graduating this year. Who do you hope you'll be teamed with?" Anko asked Sakura, draping an arm around her shoulders as the two walked to the kitchen, Anko fully dressed and Sakura in a tank top and a pair of short shorts.

Sakura grinned as a fox before she slid into the booth of the kitchen table. Usually Sakura would make the breakfast for the two of them, but Anko had forced her to agree, years ago, that on the day Sakura was graduating, Anko was making the food.

In the first two years of Sakura living with Anko, she was taught how to cook all sorts of things via Anko. Surprisingly, Anko was a damn good cook, although she was kind of lazy sometimes….

Sakura's chin was resting softly on her clinched fist as she stared out the window above the opposite seat.

"Sakura-chan?" Anko asked as she whipped up some of the dango dough into balls so she could cook them. Sakura looked startled for a moment before she turned her head and looked at Anko for a minute before she let loose a brilliant smile.

"I'm fine, Anko-chan, I'm just thinking." Sakura then looked down to the floor besides Anko's feet. "I'm kind of nervous about today. What if I don't get put on a team with Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked softly, talking more to herself than Anko.

Anko halted what she was doing so she could look at Sakura for a minute before she looked at her dough grimly.

"You'll get in with him, Sakura-chan, you know that." Anko then continued her cooking as she spoke with her eyes showing a bit of odd worry in them. "This isn't about Naruto-kun, is it, Sakura?" Anko asked and Sakura's silence confirmed her suspicions. "Sakura, did you have that dream again?" Anko asked Sakura who tensed before she shifted in her seat to slouch down further.

"Maybe…" Sakura mumbled before she suddenly was turned around in the seat, her knees where her butt was and her arms draped over each other on the top of the buffet seat. "It was weird, Anko-chan," Sakura began, her eyes staring at Anko unseeingly. Anko glanced to Sakura before continuing her cooking. "they were talking about me." Anko stopped her cooking and stared at Sakura for a moment.

"Talking about you?" Anko asked, grabbing a hand towel to wipe her hands off with briefly before she walked over to Sakura and sat beside her, leaving the dango cooking.

"Yes. The female—you know, the blue haired one—was wondering aloud 'I wonder how Sakura-chan is doing' and after she finished her sentence, well, that was when I woke up. I was partially in shock, hence why I didn't fully dodge the kunai." Sakura mumbled, her head on Anko's shoulder. Anko patted Sakura's head softly before she softly pushed Sakura's head up so she could go finish the dango.

"Sakura-chan..maybe you should tell Sarutobi-sama about these dreams. They could be a part of your memory or something." Anko said while Sakura rasped her blunt finger nails on the table.

"I have a feeling that it isn't a memory, but it's not just a dream. It's too realistic. It's almost as if I'm looking through someone else's eyes and I am hearing from their perspective…" Sakura mumbled, Anko heading towards the table with the dish of dango. Anko had made a lot of dango since it is both of their favorite foods.

"Mah, don't worry about it, Sakura-chan. Just eat your dango and forget about it. I'm sure it's nothing." Anko said, patting Sakura on the back, making her choke on her own spit. Sakura sent Anko a glare, making said woman smirk, before she began to literally feast on her own dango, Anko following her example.

When Sakura arrived at the Academy, she was immediately ushered into the room by Ino and Naruto pulling on her arm and hurrying her.

"Ne, ne, hurry up, Sakura-chan!" The two chorused together before shooting a glare at each other, continuing to pull her along.

Sakura smiled happily and began walking between them.

The bell rang the moment they stepped into the door. They let out a sigh of relief before they rushed to their desks.

Ino pouted towards Sasuke, since she wanted to sit by Sakura, but opted to sit behind Sakura.

"Alright class, today we're choosing teams." Iruka announced, breaking the silence in the room. The kids roared with happiness and began shouting out who they wanted to be teamed with. Iruka's eye twitched and Sakura smirked at him.

"Oi!" Sakura yelled, standing up from the bench. The room was dead silent, waiting for Sakura to do something. "Iruka-sensei didn't ask you for your input on the matter, so just shut up already." Sakura sat back down on the bench and crossed her legs, ignoring all of the stares and opting to stare at her eyelids.

Iruka cleared his throat and flashed Sakura a smile mixed with a look of gratitude. "Now then, today, we're choosing teams. I will call out the team number, the team mates, your sensei, and then the room you will meet your sensei in. You will need to remember the room number, because we'll be sitting in here for a few minutes after we're done to wait for the all-call." Iruka instructed before he turned around and grasped onto his clipboard. He turned back to his students and sat on the edge of his desk, praying the desk wouldn't turn over with him on top of it.

"Team 1!" Iruka began calling out names of all of the teams, but she wasn't listening to anyone's names except for hers, Naruto, and Ino's. Perhaps even Sasuke, but not very much.

"-Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka called out, shaking Sakura out of her day-dreaming. Sakura stared at Iruka intently while Naruto did the same.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka called out, leaving only one name left. _I wonder who will get into the team…_ Sakura thought to herself, nearly vibrating in her chair at the anxiousness she felt.

"and for the female member of the team, Sakura Haruno!" Multiple choruses of "Awww!" and "I wanted to be on Sasuke-kun's team!" ran throughout the room from the females while Sakura and Naruto jumped on their benches, holding hands, in happiness. Iruka gave them a sharp glare and Sakura only smiled before she and Naruto plopped back onto the bench.

The rest of the teams were announced and then the all call came.

"Attention all students, please go to your designated area immediately. I repeat, children, please go to your designated areas immediately. Thank you."

So that's how the halls got so crowded that Naruto and Sakura got separated from each other.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura called out as she kept pushing people away from her, sometimes accidentally pushing people too hard so they'd basically get thrown into someone else. Multiple fights were brewing around Sakura, although she ignored all of it.

"Oi, watch it, Forehead!" A girl called out, revealing to be Ami. Ami crinkled her nose and stood in front of Sakura, the hallway nearly cleared now.

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples.

"What do you want now, Ami? I have to find Naruto-kun." Sakura huffed out, her hands on how her hips, her hips cocked to the right.

Ami snarled out, "I want you to learn your place" before she actually ran at Sakura. Sakura sighed and right before Ami was right in front of her, Sakura side-stepped to the left, to avoid her, and then continued to walk down the hallways.

"You're too weak to even try to place me anywhere, _Shrimp_. Maybe you didn't learn that last time." As Sakura walked down the hallway, she gazed back at Ami with mostly hatred and annoyance written on her face. "I'm busy right now, so try again later. Actually, don't. I don't plan to waste my time on something as stupid and insignificant as you." Sakura hummed before she disappeared behind a door.

"Sakura-chan!" Sakura heard as she walked into her designated room. Naruto glomped her and she smiled and hugged him back.

"Naruto-kun! I was looking for you, baka!" Sakura said slightly loudly before popping him on the head. Sasuke snorted at their antics, a hidden smile on his lips and a smile in his mind.

_This team will certainly be interesting…_ Sasuke thought to himself before suddenly he heard his other two teammates snickering before hearing a faucet turn on.

"What're you guys doing?" Sasuke asked them, eyeing the contraption in front of the door. It looked almost like a…like a sling-shot?

Sakura turned around to show a dark blue water balloon. Sasuke eyed her and the balloon oddly before she grinned at him and basically phased to the contraption.

She set the water balloon gently into the contraption before she phased into a seat closest to the contraption. Naruto sat beside her and Sasuke sat closer to the door, although still far away from it that he wouldn't get splashed with water as well.

A few moments later, the door started to slide open.

"Yo." A man said, holding a hand into the door to show a peace sign. The three kids sweatdropped. He stuck his head in and that's when Sakura activated the Genjutsu onto the sensei. She tapped once, with her foot, onto the ground so the contraption would activate. She then canceled the Genjutsu on him before the water balloon hit him square in the face.

The water balloon hit him square in the face and he sweatdropped before walking into the room.

"My first impression of you?" The man started before he then pointed to all of them slowly "I hate you all." He then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The three kids sat in silence for a moment before they got up.

"Where do you suppose he went?" Naruto asked Sakura, although Sakura thought about it for a minute, secretly sending out her chakra.

"Obviously the roof, dobe. Can't you sense his chakra?" Sasuke asked Naruto who glared and growled at the boy.

Sakura merely sighed before disappearing in a poof as smoke as well, leaving the boys speechless.

Whenever Sakura appeared on the roof a second later, she found the man leaning over the railing.

"Kakashi-senpa-sensei." Sakura quickly corrected herself and Kakashi turned his head to her and nodded.

"Maybe I shouldn't have taught you a bit of Genjutsu." Kakashi mumbled and she grinned at him and sat on the stairs. He turned around and sat on the railing, keeping his balance at all times.

"Meh, I'm glad you did, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura smiled happily at him, closing her eyes and tilting her head at him.

Kakashi hummed his agreement before he dared to ask the question. "So, how's Anko?" Sakura stopped smiling for a moment as she suddenly remembered her dream. Kakashi caught onto her sudden solemn mood but didn't ask her about it.

"Ah, she's fine, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi nodded in appreciation before he glanced at the stares and the two boys came running out of the stairway door.

"Mou, sensei, shouldn't you tell your students where you're going _before_ you leave us alone?" Naruto asked and Kakashi sighed softly.

"I knew one of you guys would figure it out." Kakashi said, glancing at Sakura. Naruto pouted and Sakura grinned at him. She got up and ran over to Naruto and hugged him around the neck.

"It's ok, Naruto-kun. You're still smart to me." She said happily and Naruto hugged her back and cheered while swinging her around. Kakashi stared oddly at the duo while sweatdropping.

_I've been sweatdropping a lot, haven't I?_ Kakashi thought to himself before he smiled softly behind his mask _This is an interesting team. I hope they pass._

"Welp kitties, now it's time to learn." Kakashi announced suddenly, making the three kids stare at him oddly.

Sakura leaned over to Naruto and mumbled into his ear "Don't worry, I swear he's not a pedophile or anything. He's just a weird cookie." Kakashi glared at Sakura who only stuck her tongue out at him.

Sasuke eyed Kakashi and Sakura oddly for a minute before he shook his head slightly and sat on the steps. Naruto and Sakura sat down beside each other, both a step lower than Sasuke.

"Alrighty then, since I don't want to talk much, you can tell them about the introductions, Sakura-chan." Kakashi hummed out before Sakura sighed and her teammates stared at her expectantly.

"You'll need to say your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and your goal in life." Sakura stated, nodded towards her teammates before smiling widely at them. Naruto seemed captivated by her smile for a second before he suddenly stood up.

"Alright sensei, you go first!" He announced and Kakashi sighed, a pout set on his clothed, invisible lips.

"Alright" Kakashi sighed again before he straightened his back again "My name's Hatake Kakashi, I don't like much and I don't really dislike a lot of things as well." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head nervously while Sakura rolled her eyes at his introduction. "I don't have many hobbies and I don't really have a goal in life." He shrugged before he stared pointedly at Sakura. "Now you, Pinky." He said, using her dreaded nickname.

She snorted at him before smiling brightly "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like dango, training, hanging with Naruto-kun and Ino-chan. I dislike fangirls and idiots." Sakura glanced at Kakashi before smirking at his pout and huff. Her lips straightened back out and she continued."My hobbies are, well, training and trying to run from Ino-chan when she wants to go shopping. My dream is to get all of my memory back and figure out who I am." She smirked at the boys before she looked up to Sasuke. "It's your turn now, Sasuke-kun." She said happily.

Sasuke glanced at her before huffing. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like few things and I dislike a lot." Sakura muttered about how him and Kakashi are going to get along very well. Sasuke glared at her in a glance and she only held up a peace sign at him, her tongue sticking out. Sasuke huffed again at her childish behavior. "My hobbies are training and my goal in life…well…" Sasuke suddenly resituated himself to where he had his elbows on his knees and his hair shadowed his eyes, making his eyes almost glow ominously.

"I wish to kill my brother." For a second Sakura's face shown her shock as she was thrown in a still-photo'd memory. She saw a man with long, red hair smiling down at her as he rubbed her hair affectionately.

Kakashi glanced at Sakura to see that she reacted to his last sentence. _I'll have to ask her about it later…_

"Naruto, you go." Kakashi ordered, pointing to the hyperactive blonde. Said blonde grinned happily and stood up. _Oh I can already tell he's going to be an animated character…_

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen, hanging with Sakura-chan, training, and being the best and pranking people!" Naruto pointed to himself with his thumb as he puffed out his chest, showing his pride. "I dislike Sasuke-teme, cold ramen—even though I'll still eat it—and I hate Ino-baka!" Sakura made a disgusted face and shivered. Kakashi followed her example while Sasuke crinkled up his nose at the thought. "My hobbies are training and hanging out with Sakura-chan, without Ino-baka, and my goal is to be the greatest hokage there ever was!" Naruto threw his arms into the air and there was silence until Sakura began to try to hide her laughs.

"Oh god, Naruto-kun, you're too animated." She said, finally letting out her laughs to regain her breathe. Sasuke rolled his eyes while Naruto pouted and Kakashi sighed.

Kakashi finally nodded after a moment of silent. "Come to training ground 7 tomorrow morning, and don't be late." Kakashi looked like he wanted to leave but then he looks as if he forgot something. "Oh yeah, and don't eat anything for breakfast." And then he was gone in a puff of smoke.

Sakura pouted before she stood up and turned to her teammates.

"I propose that we go out for ramen, together, as a team." She said smiling happily. Naruto immediately stood up and whooped in happiness. The two teammates turned to Sasuke who only glared between them at an invisible figure.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun. We should begin working on our teamwork from the beginning, ne?" Sakura asked, bending out and holding out a hand to Sasuke. Sasuke stared at the hand for a moment before he looked up at the owner of the hand. He searched her smiling eyes before he sighed and stood up, ignoring the hand. He brushed off the invisible dirt from his shorts and began towards the stairs.

Sakura stared after him for a minute before she turned to Naruto. Before she could open her mouth, though, her other teammate broke in.

"Well? Are you coming?"

Sakura's eyes gleamed in happiness and she grasped onto Naruto's hand and dragged him along.

—

At the ramen shop, the three sat beside each other on the stools. The smell of ramen was rich in the air, and the three kid's stomachs were growling like crazy, although two of the kids wouldn't admit so…

"Oi, is that…it's Naruto-kun!" An old man said behind the counter. "Oh, and with your friends? Or are these your new teammates I heard about?" The old man asked, his eyebrows wiggling slightly. Sakura stared at the eyebrows in shock while Sasuke stared at the man as if he was an idiot.

"Ah-ha! You got that right, old man!" Naruto said, looking proud of himself. The old man behind the counter was then followed by a young woman who looked surprised to see Naruto with others.

"Oh! Naruto-kun, are these your new teammates?" She asked and before he could answer her question, she bowed towards Sakura and Sasuke, who blinked at each other before looking at the woman. "My name is Ayame, and this is my father, Teuchi. We are the ramen chiefs." Ayame said happily before standing up and rushing around the place to get the ramen cookers going and such.

"So, Naruto-kun, what will all of you guys be having, hmm?" Teuchi asked Naruto with a smile.

Naruto had to actually think about this one. "I'll have…2 bowls of beef ramen to start me out with." Naruto then looked at the gaping Sasuke and the slightly stoic Sakura. "So, what will you guys have?" He asked.

Sakura thought for a moment before she answered "I think I'll mix it up." She said, snapping her fingers once she thought of what she wanted. "I think I'll take a chicken ramen." She then turned to Sasuke and smiled. "So, Sasuke-kun, what do you want to eat?"

Sasuke stared at her for a second before he leaned back in his stool, using his feet to keep his from falling backwards, to look at the menu that was placed directly above them.

"I'll have..a beef ramen, please." Sasuke spoke up after a minute of debating internally.

Naruto cheered at his choice while Sakura only smiled at Sakura before the two began to converse, very animatedly.

Sasuke stared blankly at a spoon that had Sakura's image in it.

_What exactly am I feeling for you, Haruno Sakura? _

In the Akatsuki hideout, Pein was pacing in his office, still focusing on his sisters point of view.

He finally stopped pacing and punched a wall, causing the building to shift slightly.

His door busted open to reveal a shocked Konan.

"Pein! What the hell was that?" She asked loudly, stepping towards him. He glared at her with blindingly gray eyes. She stopped and stood still. "What's happened Pein?" She asked him softly, slowly walking towards him.

"The damn Uchiha brat!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air before rubbing his hands into his hair and leaning his back onto the wall tiredly. "Sakura's natural charm is rubbing off on her new teammates." Pein grumbled darkly. Konan gulped and walked closer towards the man.

"Pein-sama, what do you mean?" She asked softly, finally reaching him and softly placing a hand on his shoulder. She received a glare from the man but only ignored it as she kept her hand in place.

"Konan, her teammates are the Kyuubi and the Uchiha brat." Pein mumbled to her and she immediately paled and stiffened.

"I see…" She mumbled, understanding the direness of the situation. "What do you propose we do, Pein-sama?" She asked him as he finally got away from the wall. He sat at his desk and finally activated his shadows back. How the shadows can cloak him as they do, she wonders to herself, _I will never know…_

"We will watch them. I feel something will happen to split the two apart." Pein then smirked at Konan, who straightened up and stared at him in wonder. "Once a man finds out that another man loves his woman, there _will_ be fights." Konan then understood his meaning.

"So you're going on a speculation?" She asked him, making him tense softly.

Pein didn't answer for a moment. "Sadly, yes. It is the only thing I can do at the moment, Konan." He said stoically. Konan nodded slowly before turning towards the door.

She stopped and turned her head to him. "Is there anything you need, Pein?" She asked him softly. He sighed, closed his eyes, and slouched in his seat.

"Yes, there is, in fact." He then opened his eyes and smirked at her. "This paper work to be done and gone." Konan smirked back at him while he chuckled softly.

"Yeah, well, you're on your own on that." She said before rushing out the door and shutting the door softly, leaving Pein pouting in the shadows.

He then glared at the paperwork, hoping it would burst into flames.

"You know, Leader-sama, you could just use a Katon jutsu on it and say that Tobi destroyed it." A deep voice called from the doorway. Pein glanced up and then smirked.

"Well well, if it isn't Itachi." Pein said as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on his stack of papers. His shadows disappeared so Itachi could see his smirk. Itachi nodded at the man and stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Leader-sama." Itachi said before he bowed his head slightly, his bangs brushing against his cheeks. "I have a request." Leader-sama raised an eyebrow at Itachi who only held his breathe in anxiousness.

"Oh? And what would this request be?" Pein asked, his feet now planted on the floor as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Itachi was silent for a moment as he decided how to word his request. "I wish to…meet…Sakura." Itachi said as he slowly began walking towards the desk.

Pein was silent as he stared at Itachi in shock. "Why do you want to meet Sakura? She doesn't know you." Pein said, his voice hard. Itachi, in his mindscape, flinched at the tone and knew he shouldn't have asked.

"I…" Itachi was silent for a moment before he finally gathered his nerves again. "Would you rather hear my personal reasons or reasons that could, perhaps, help the organization?" Itachi asked and Pein looked slightly amused.

"How about both."

Itachi was silent for a moment. "The organization reason first, then." Itachi mumbled, his head turned away from Pein.

Pein's eyes narrowed at a sudden observation. _Why is he being so emotional?_

"How much memory has Sakura remembered?" Itachi asked suddenly, snapping Pein out of his reverie.

Pein was quiet for a moment before answering. "I don't know, although Zetsu should be able to tell me…"

"He won't know _everything_ she's remembered." Itachi stepped so close to the desk that his cloak brushed against the desk softly with every movement. Pein raised his eyebrow in question at Itachi's statement before silently agreeing. "There are things that she, herself, could have remembered, but is not telling anyone."

It suddenly clicked. "So you are going to get Sakura to spill what she's remembered?" Pein asked, his eyes slightly widened in wonder.

Itachi made a humming sound in the back of his throat. "Maybe."

Pein raised his eyebrow again. "How do you plan to do this?"

Itachi was silent before he suddenly set his hands onto the desk and leaned forward to Pein, getting maybe half a foot away from his face. Pein was silent as he silently asked Itachi what he was doing. "Leader-sama, how much do you trust me?"

Pein was silent. "As much as a Shinobi can trust a fellow Shinobi." Itachi's lips curled up in a small soft smile.

"So, reflect some of those emotions onto Sakura. You can do that, can you not?" Itachi asked, making Pein's eyes widened.

"So you want me to give Sakura some of my emotions, so she'll trust you better, and hopefully spill everything to you?" Pein smiled an amused smile. "Very interesting. I will permit the meeting." Itachi straightened up once more and he bowed his head. Before he could speak, though, Pein spoke first. "But first, what are your personal reasoning's for meeting my sister?"

Pein's eyes narrowed in slight suspicion of Itachi's feelings for his sister.

Itachi's lips narrowed into a thin line. _Damn it, I was hoping he forgot about that…_

Pein raised his eyebrow once more. _My eyebrow's going to be sore in the morning..._

"Well.." Itachi closed his eyes in thought. "When I met Sakura, five years ago, she was asleep, being switched from your arms to my arms. I want to meet her, and speak with her. From how Kisame speaks of her, she seemed like a wonderful little girl." Itachi and Pein found themselves looking into each others eyes, understanding shining through.

Pein chuckled softly. "Complimenting the leader's little sister is the way to get what he wants, hmm?" Itachi smiled softly while the two men chuckled. "Alright, I'll allow you to meet my sister. I'll warn you though," Pein tilted his head, his neck cracking slightly as he narrowed his eyes at his fellow organization member. "I'll be watching you through her eyes, and hearing her through her ears. So if I see something I don't like….Well…you get my drift, don't you, Itachi? You're a smart man, I'm sure you do." Itachi nodded slightly. "I'll give you a week." Itachi tilted his head.

"A week? Why will I need a week?"

"You'll have to build her trust, remember? Just my emotions won't be enough. She has her own as well, Itachi. Mine will only influence hers." Itachi nodded before he bowed.

"Yes, Leader-sama. I will be back in a week" Itachi bowed lower than before and headed out to pack.

"Oh, and Itachi?" Pein called out, forcing Itachi to pause his movements.

"Why do I have the feeling that you have a plan up your sleeve, involving my sister?" Pein asked, his eyebrow raised, again.

Itachi was silent as he smirked, although Pein couldn't see it. Itachi then chuckled before he headed out of the door and shut the door softly, headed to his room to get ready.

"Hm..I wonder what he's planning…"

The next morning, the team of three was waiting at training ground 7.

"Oh my god, when's he going to get here!" Naruto yelled to the heavens, making his teammates cringe away from him.

"My god Naruto, shut up." Sakura growled out as she glared at him. Her and Sasuke were sitting on a post near the center of the training grounds. Their backs were pressed together, since there was only one post and they'd jumped up at the same time.

"But Saakura-chaaan." Naruto whined before Sakura jumped off of the post and successfully crashed into him. This resulted in Sakura standing on Naruto's back, while Naruto's head was pressed into the dirt.

"Shut up, baka." She mumbled before she began to walk off towards the forest.

"Sakura?" Sasuke called towards her. She glanced back at him and smiled softly at him.

"I know where Kakashi-sensei is, I'll go get him. You guy stay here, ok? Do _not_ follow me." Sakura then phased away, leaving the two boys kind of shocked.

"Should we follow her, teme…?" Naruto asked slyly. Sasuke merely glanced at the sitting boy before huffing.

"No."

"Meh…fun-sucker…" Naruto mumbled as he backed into the post and rested his back against it. "Welp, nap time!" Naruto exclaimed before falling asleep, very quickly. Sasuke looked down at the boy and sweatdropped.

"Idiot…"

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Uwah? Oh, Sakura-chan. How'd you find me?" Kakashi asked, tensing whenever he heard Sakura now standing beside him.

"I know your past, Kakashi-sensei, and I just put two and two together." Sakura then smirked up at him "Plus, I could feel your chakra signature." Kakashi chuckled and put a hand on her head and lightly ruffled her hair.

"You're a very bright girl, Sakura-chan." He said smiling down at her. She only smiled up at him before she looked at the memorial stone in front of them.

"Kakashi-sensei, they'd want you to move on." Sakura said, now moving to lean into Kakashi's side. Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.

"I know it, Sakura-chan. I've told myself that so many times that it's now like a broken record." Kakashi sighed and tensed up slightly whenever Sakura hesitantly reached up a hand to grasp his vest on his lower back lightly.

Sakura's eyes got a glazed look to them, although Kakashi couldn't really see that. "It's ok, Kakashi-sensei. We all miss someone." Kakashi glanced down at Sakura to see her glazed over eyes and her hurt expression.

Kakashi was silent for a moment. "Do you miss someone, Sakura?" Kakashi asked her softly. She didn't move for a good two, three minutes.

"I…" Sakura became quiet once more as she thought. "Yes. I miss someone so much that just thinking about it breaks my heart." Sakura then gazed up at Kakashi.

"Who do you miss, Sakura?" He asked her softly. He saw the tears in her eyes and knew that this was a touchy subject.

"I don't know, Kakashi-sensei. But it hurts. It really hurts." Sakura let a tear fall unknowingly.

Kakashi sighed and wiped the tear away. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to bring up this sort of conversation." Kakashi then backed away slightly and Sakura let go of his vest. He turned towards her and put his hands on each side of her face. "How about we forget this happened, hmm?" He asked her softly, wiping away another tear. Sakura sniffed once before she rubbed her face clear of tears and whatever else may be a remnant of her crying.

She nodded and he backed away from her and stood up. He smiled softly. "Good then. Now then, lets go get this test done, shall we?"

Sakura nodded vigorously with a wide smile. _Only these kids can bring such happiness, huh, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei? Is there something you want me to see?_

After the test, the one who was tied to the post was none other than Haruno Sakura. How did this happen? Well, it was quite interesting, and it went kind of like this…

_Begin: Flashback_

"_Oi, baka, wake up!" Sakura yelled at Naruto, making Naruto bash his head on the post, which resulted in Sasuke losing his balance and eventually falling off and landing on Naruto._

"_Oof!" _

_Sakura grinned at the two boys. Sasuke was sitting on Naruto's stomach, while Naruto groaned about his stomach and his head. _

"_Mou, Sasuke-kun, maybe you should get off of him." Sakura said to Sasuke, as to which he only glared at her, then the dobe, before standing up and brushing his shorts off. He huffed softly and walked in front of Kakashi._

"_So, Kakashi-sensei…" Sasuke said, getting Naruto and Sakura's attention._

"_Hmm?" Kakashi asked, a little orange book in front of his nose. Sakura developed a tick mark on her forehead and one also on her clinched fist. Kakashi glanced towards Sakura and his eyes widened slightly before he cleared his throat. He slid the book back into his pocket and Sasuke glanced at Sakura to see that she was walking towards Kakashi, a tick mark on her forehead. Naruto was a bit behind her, so he didn't see her angry look._

_She stood beside Sasuke and glared down Kakashi, although Kakashi seemed to be trying to ignore the look._

"_Right then." Kakashi mumbled before he reached into his pocket to pull out two bells. "So, you guys will be trying to get these bells from me." Sakura tilted her head._

_Naruto voiced her internal question. "Kakashi-sensei, there's only two bells. Did you forget how to count to three? Here, I'll help you. 1-" Naruto held up a finger "2-" Naruto held up a second finger "3…" Now Naruto held up three fingers, so he wiggled them around. "3. You've only got 2 bells." Kakashi's eyebrow twitched and Sakura smirked at her sensei._

So, Naruto's denseness annoys the piss out of Kakashi-senpai, eh? Hm. This will be amusing…

"_Yes, Naruto, thank you for clearing that up." Kakashi's eyebrow twitched once more before he decided t completely ignore the blonde. "Only two of you will get a bell. The one who doesn't get a bell will be tied to that post behind you-" The team of three kids glanced behind them to see the post Sakura and Sasuke had sat on before. "and will not eat for the rest of the day. On top of that, that person will fail and go back to the academy."_

_The kids reactions were a range of different emotions. Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers, Sakura had a bored look on her face, and Sasuke looked slightly shocked although more stoic than shocked._

_Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Sakura and knew what she was going to do._

"_I give you five hours." _

_Damn that girl, he knew exactly what she was going to do. Stupid Anko. Ruining the test for him…_

_Sakura had told the boys about his test—about how it was meant to show teamwork and how at the end he was watching and he wanted the kids to feed the one on the post—and made a plan that involved all of them. Of course, Sakura, probably being one of the stronger ones on the team, lazed around and stared at the clouds as the two boys did the work. Why? Because she knew he wouldn't put her back into the academy._

_Damn her smartness. And damn that Anko._

_End: Flashback_

And that's how they confirmed being Team 7 and staying that way.

Later that night, Anko told Sakura that she wouldn't be back for a week.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, Sarutobi-sama is sending me on a mission, and you know I can't say no." Anko told her sorta-adopted-daughter. Sakura nodded.

"Alright, I understand. I can take care of myself." Anko nodded before she adjusted the pack on her back and shot out the door.

Sakura sighed happily and sat on the couch. "Finally." Sakura then glanced at the back window. She left her room door open so she could see her window.

"Whoever you are, you can come out now. I know you've been there this whole time." Sakura then strained her neck so she could see the window. She had left the window unlocked since she expected Anko to get a mission tonight.

She saw a dark figure slide the window open before sliding into the room. The figure shut the window and Sakura sighed softly and stood up. She stretched and took out two kunai.

"So, what do you want?" She asked the figure who was now stepping towards the living room.

Her room was pitch black since she hadn't been in her room at all that night. The figure stepped into the light and whenever he lifted up his head, Sakura's posture relaxed.

_Perfect…_

The man had long black hair tied in a low pony tail that was carelessly thrown over his right shoulder. He was wearing all black clothing. He had on a black shirt with fishnet from the top of the abdominals to the waistband of his pants and from the bottom of his elbows to his wrist. His pants were loose ninja pants with a pair of black sandals.

She raised her eyebrow at him.

"I've heard about you from the surrounding villages." The man spoke up. "The mysterious genin who has no recollection of her past self." Sakura noted that he spoke with knowledge and wisdom laced within his words, although it was obvious he was trying not to.

"Oh really now? How surprising."

"It's not every day one sees a girl with pink hair, of course." The man stated, a smile pulling at his lips. Sakura's mouth lifted up into a small smile, although she tried to keep it down. Sakura sat in the couch that was facing him.

She motioned towards the couch she was sitting in before and the man gazed at the furniture before suddenly he was sitting on the couch, his legs crossed and his intertwined hands resting softly on his knee.

_He's fast. He's testing me to see what I can observe._

"You're here to merely talk, I assume?" Sakura asked softly, as to which he nodded towards her. "If so, then you shouldn't try to intimidate me. It doesn't work." Sakura then eyed the man who was now smirking widely.

"I am glad that you noticed so well." He then chuckled and straightened his legs out in front of him and basically threw his arms on the top of the couch. "Fine then, I will relax myself and stop trying to 'intimidate you' as you've put it." Sakura nodded towards him and relaxed as well.

"You have an ulterior motive for being here tonight. What is it?" Sakura asked him, her long hair moving slightly from the wind that picked up in her apartment, the opened window letting in a breeze. Sakura didn't spare the window a single glance, though.

"Ah, you're very observant. I'm glad for that." The man spoke with the tone of voice that made Sakura want to listen. "Sometimes, it's very good to make allies outside the village wall, is it not?" He asked Sakura, who silently agreed with him.

"I see your point." Sakura mumbled before a certain awkwardness arose between them. "As you most possibly know, my name is Sakura. Now, what is your name?"

"You may call me…Itachi."

* * *

><p><strong>AN AHHHH. I got it!**

**1) WOOTNESS! It's done! Now to work on chapter 5….:3 Woot! I thought about adding more, but I thought that this was a good place to stop. Ohhh, what'll happen now? ;D**

**2) I am about to head into my fourth week of school, and I'm ok with that. :D Trust me, I miss the summer, but hey, what can you do, ne?**

**3) Woo-hoo! I'm so glad I got this chapter done! I've already started on chapter 5 and guess what? ;D I've got chapter five AND six planned out! WOOT. Who else is happy? -holds hand up for high fives- :3 **

**4) So far, I'm doing pretty good with the weekly updates. I get atleast one chapter ahead of time, so if I keep doing that, then I do believe I'll be fine..yay!**

**5) I don't own Naruto, because if I did, then Naruto would be something along the lines of this..and hundreds of other fanfictions. Which, really, where would the fun be in that, ne? ;D Therefore, I'm rather glad I don't own Naruto, even though I'd love some ItaSaku...T^T**

**6) I LOVE YOU ALL. Keep the reviews coming. ;D So far, for three chapters, we've got 12 reviews. Keep 'em coming people! D= I want reviews! The more reviews I get, the more I'll be inspired to write! D=**

**7) welp, I am tired, and I am putting this in my Doc Manager on the Tuesday before this chapter's due. Woo-hoo. Overachiever much? D: Me! Me! Oh, I'm an overachiever! :D Hahaha.**

**8) Well people, just keep in mind, I don't own Naruto, keep reviewing, and I love you all-hands everyone delicious cupcakes that I referenced in either chapter 2 or 3...I'm too lazy to look back, so blah- I LOVE YOU ALL. 3 Goodnight!**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	5. The Start

_**Pain of Siblings Chapter 05: The Start**_

Sakura tilted her head as the man—Itachi—stood up from the couch.

"I will return in 2 days. I only came to see you today to observe the_ mysterious _girl." He nodded towards her, a teasing smile on his lips, before he suddenly phased to be in front of the open window, the chilly night air brewing around the two. "While I'm gone, why not think of some topics for the two of us to discuss, hmm?" he suggested, making Sakura nod slowly, her face showing her slight distrust.

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan." He announced before his body was sucked through the window, the window slamming shut behind him.

Sakura stared in shock at the man's exit way before she smirked.

"He's a very talented Genjutsu user. Whoever he really is, anyway." Sakura chuckled before she headed to her room so she could go to sleep.

**-—2 Days Later—**

He came through the window again, in the exact same attire as before.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." He called out to her whenever she walked in through the front door after her now traditional lunch date with_ her _boys—_her_ teammates.

"Hello Itachi-san." Sakura muttered before she walked into her room to get changed out of her dress and into something more comfortable.

When she returned to the living room, she immediately headed into the kitchen.

"Would you like some dango and tea, Itachi-san?" She asked, gathering together the ingredients for the dango.

"Ah, yes, if you wouldn't mind." He said, coming into the kitchen and sitting on the kitchen table. Sakura spared him a glance before continuing her cooking. "So, have you thought of any topics, Sakura-chan?" He asked as he hopped off the table and began to snoop around the kitchen.

"A few." Sakura confirmed, beginning to roll the dough into balls.

It was silent for a few minutes until Itachi's curiosity peaked. "Well? What topics?"

"For one thing, what that Genjutsu's covering." Sakura said nonchalantly. Itachi froze and looked at the cooking girl, his eyes slightly widened by shock.

"You're a Genjutsu user?" He asked softly, slightly amazed that she could sense his advanced illusions.

"Well, yes, but I don't need to be a user to notice the jutsu. After all, I see the jutsu in my mind eye." She added nonchalantly, again. Itachi let out a whoosh of breath, amazed at what her body was doing to recuperate for the lack of Rin'negan.

"In your mind eye? Care to elaborate?" Itachi asked, raising his eyebrow at the girl before deciding to sit directly beside her on the counter.

"Your Genjutsu is in the form of a cloak. So I am assuming you are from some organization and you are hiding that fact from me." She glanced up at him and into his shocked eyes. "I am not stupid, Itachi-san, no matter how many genin my age probably think I am by now." She smirked at him and pointed a butcher knife at him. He glanced at the knife and unconsciously gulped, although she didn't catch the gulp. "If you try to hurt anyone in the village, Itachi-san, do not expect to be living for much longer." She then smiled happily at him and put the knife down. She began to whistle a tune as she skewered the sweet, delicious dango onto a stick.

The room was silent for a minute before Sakura suddenly chuckled. "By the way, you don't have to tell me about the cloak. Just take the Genjutsu off and put the cloak in my room or something. It's hard to see anything around you with that bright light in my mind. It makes me confused." She said before staring harshly at the skewering sticks beside Itachi. Of course, beside the sticks was the knife. She'd much rather not slice her hand.

She looked up at Itachi and then glanced at his arm (where the cloak would be) and then gazed down at the skewer sticks. She mumbled a curse and reached for the item that was closest to Itachi. He caught her wrist and handed her the items that were closer to her-the skewer sticks.

She pouted but took them anyway. She mumbled her appreciation before she continued to put the dango on the sticks. There ended up being two extra. She held the plate of two out to Itachi. "You take one, I take one." She said before she grabbed the pink one and popped it into her mouth, leaving him the green one.

He chuckled at her and grabbed the dango. He bit into it and felt that heaven just descending upon his skull.

_Oh god. This is so..so…good…I'll have to stop by here every once in a while and steal me some dango…_

Sakura snickered before she took half of the sticks and put them on a plate then left the rest of the dango to Itachi.

"I also have another topic I would like to discuss." Sakura said, now getting around to making the tea. Her eyes shined with amusement, although he couldn't see that since his eyes were closed in appreciation of the dango.

"Hmm? And that would be?" He hummed softly towards her. He popped open an eye to see her pouring the tea into the cups. He closed his eye once more whenever she began to turn to him.

"Who _you _are, Itachi-san." She said, placing a cup beside him before she began heading towards the living room.

"Who I am?" He asked her, his onyx eyes now gazing at her as he followed her to the living room.

"Ah-ha. You seem to know a bit about me, so I wish to know a bit about you." She nodded towards him then tilted her head at the end of her statement. He stared at her for a minute before he finished his dango then cleared his throat. He placed his plate on his lap and put his arms on the back of the couch.

"Alright, well, what do you want to know?"

"Everything you know about me, I want to know about you." She said, knowing that he knew more than he let on.

"Well, that's not much. You _do_ have the nickname of Mysterious Girl." He said looking slightly amused.

"You know more about me than you're letting on, Itachi. I do not like to be lied to." Sakura said, her voice taking on a more harsher tone. Itachi sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'll tell you what I can, then." He mumbled, making Sakura look at him curiously. He glanced at her before he leaned the back of his head onto the back of the couch.

"My name is Itachi, and my favorite food is dango." Sakura smiled at his favorite food. "As you can tell, my hair color is black and I am a Genjutsu user." Sakura rolled her eyes and muttered about how that was obvious from the Genjutsu on his cloak. He smirked, his eyes closed and his face facing towards the ceiling.

"I lived in Konoha for most of my life." Sakura looked slightly alarmed at this. Itachi snapped his eyes open at what he'd said.

_She didn't give me a truth serum, did she?_

Sakura thought about it for a few minutes before she finally shrugged and waved for him to go on.

Itachi stared at her for a minute before he finally shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know much about you, but I can tell you one thing." Sakura tilted her head while Itachi tensed slightly and shifted on the couch to look her straight in the eye. "I'm the one who brought you to Konoha."

Sakura inhaled sharply whenever she suddenly felt anger envelop her. The anger died out as soon as it came and her face took on a look of confusion.

"What do you mean? Where did you bring me from?" Sakura asked him, now leaning forward and looking as if she was ready to attack.

"I didn't bring you from anywhere. You were trying to get into Konoha. You attacked me and I brought you to Sarutobi, although you were unconscious. While I was trying to subdue you, you hit your head, which is why I assume you now have amnesia." Itachi shrugged and leaned back into the couch.

Sakura stared for a minute until she sighed.

_I guess that's a no for the truth serum…_

Itachi stood up before wiping some imaginary dirt off of his pants.

"I shall take my leave now, I will be back in two days." Sakura nodded but remained sitting, her legs crossed and her arms crossed over her chest. Itachi traveled to the closed window in Sakura's room. "Good night, Sakura." He said in a murmur before he vanished.

Sakura sighed and finally let herself relax completely. She snorted. "Two days, huh."

_It's been five months since the last time I saw Itachi…_ Sakura thought to herself as she stared out the window of her apartment that she still shared with Anko. _Will I see you again, Itachi?_

"Sakura-chan?" Anko called out through her apartment, throwing the keys into the bowl beside her front door.

The two had moved to a new apartment building about two months ago. This one had a spare bed room, but Naruto claimed that bed for himself. Oh yes, Naruto would sometimes come over and sleep over. Anko didn't mind, she liked the brat.

"So, the Chunin Exams, hm?" Anko asked nonchalantly as she glanced at the Chunin Exam form on the table.

"Mmhmm." Sakura murmured before she turned on the couch to sit more comfortable on it. Anko glanced back at the girl to see her in thought. Before Anko could ask her what was on her mind, Sakura answered. "I'm going to enter, and I know Naruto will, since he's so competitive." Anko snorted a laugh before she began to make dango's. Sakura shifted on the couch to where she laid down comfortably and on her side. "And, of course, Sasuke-kun will join us. He has to kill his brother, so he has to prove himself to be strong, after all." Sakura shrugged and Anko snorted again, clearly amused by her sorta-adopted-daughter's observations.

"So, when are you supposed to turn them into Kakashi?" Anko asked, now opening the fridge so she could take out a bottle of sake. Sakura barely glanced at the sake cup before getting up and heading over to the table.

"Tomorrow, actually."

Anko paused her pouring of her sake to glance at Sakura.

"Tomorrow? Why haven't you filled it out?"

"I wanted to make sure that it was the exact thing I wanted to do." Sakura shrugged before she went to get a pen from the pen/pencil holder on the desk beside the doorway to the kitchen. Sakura clicked on the pen then sat at the table and began to fill out the form.

"I have to have you sign this, Anko-chan." Sakura called to Anko who was now finishing the dango in the kitchen.

"K."

Anko sat at the table and handed Sakura a plate of dango as to which she put the plate of dango in front of her, placing the form beside Anko and placing the pen on top of it.

Anko lazily sprawled her name on the given line before she set the pen down.

"How's training going, Sakura-chan?" Anko asked Sakura, lazily popping a dango ball into her mouth.

"Meh, it's pretty good." Sakura shrugged before she stared at Anko, her lips tightened into a thin line. Anko looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"Ok, what do you want, brat?" Anko asked her, popping another dango ball into her mouth. Sakura smiled and let out a small giggle out. Anko smirked at her, going to bother her about the giggle later. Anko soon forgot about that thought once she heard Sakura's next question.

"Can you give me a few piercings?" Anko almost spit out her dango as she, now, gaped at Sakura who only stared at Anko with a raised eyebrow.

"W-What!" Anko exclaimed, now standing up, holding her dango sticks protectively against her chest.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Piercings. I know you don't have any problems doing it." Sakura shrugged and Anko's mouth dropped further—if that was possible, anyway.

Anko scrutinized Sakura's face, looking for any sign of doubt. Sakura's eyes showed her determination, so Anko slowly sat back down in the seat.

"Why do you want some piercings?" She asked, pointing one of her semi-clean dango sticks at her. The dango balls had already been ate from the stick, so no balls flew onto Sakura's face.

"They won't stand for anything, of course." Sakura said, slipping the dango stick from Anko and using her fingers to gather all of the access dough from the stick. "I just want them."

Anko stared at Sakura for a minute. "And you're _completely_ sure you want to do this?"

"Of course I am. You know how I am, I don't do anything without extensive planning." Sakura shrugged and Anko looked away, as if having forgot that fact. "I spent half a day deciding if I wanted to participate in the Chunin Exams. That was the day I received the form. The rest of the days have been spent deciding if I want piercings. Once I figured out I did.." Sakura licked the dango stick and glanced at Anko who was just sitting back in her chair, watching Sakura speak. "I then had to spend time deciding what I want."

"Have you decided what piercings you want?" Anko asked, her eyebrows raised.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. I am sure a few of them will be rather painful, but I am willing to go through that pain." Anko stared at Sakura for a minute longer before she sighed.

"Oh alright. Make me a list of where you want them and I'll go get the needles ready." Anko got up but by the end of her sentence, she paused in her standing. "You do want the standard sizes, correct?" Anko asked, gazing back at Sakura.

Sakura nodded and once Anko gave her the nod back, she continued on her way to get the needles and such. Why Anko kept needles for piercings, Sakura would much rather not think too hard on it.

Sakura decided to find a piece of paper in the desk and once she did, she, instead, began drawing a diagram of the human face.

In a smaller picture in the bottom right corner, she drew the side of the face, showing the ear. On the ear, she drew an earring on the top of her ear and then one in the center of her earlobe. On the face, she drew a piercing on her right eyebrow, in the middle of her bottom lip (a labret) and then snake bites in the form of downwards triangles—or fangs, if you would.

Whenever Anko got back, she stared at the diagram before muttering a curse and placing the equipment she had in her hands on the table. She then went to look for piercings that would fit Sakura and that would fit for the piercings Sakura asked for.

Sakura stared at the equipment for a minute before glancing up to see Anko in her seat again.

"Welp, brat, lets get this going, shall we?" Sakura scooted her chair closer to Anko's and Anko told Sakura not to scream or else she'd have no vocal cords left. Sakura only smirked and muttered 'Only in your dreams, Anko-chan.'

The next day, the team returned to the bridge that they always met on.

The boys got a huge shock whenever they saw Sakura's face with metal in it.

"S-Sakura-chan! W-What's on your face!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the metal piercings, especially the ones on her bottom lips-the snakebites.

"Dobe, they're obviously piercings." Sasuke muttered, knowing perfectly well that Naruto heard him.

"What'd you call me, teme!"

"Yo." A voice said behind Sakura. Sakura turned her head and Kakashi grimaced.

"Sakura-chan, what's on your face?"

Sakura and Sasuke face palmed.

"I swear, I'm surrounded by idiots…" Sasuke muttered, making Sakura punch him in the arm. Sasuke glanced at her then smirked. "It still stands."

Sakura glared but before she could get the next punch in, Kakashi cleared his throat, clearing calling their attention.

"So, do you three have your forms?" Kakashi asked them, knowing that all three would.

"Duh." Sasuke said snidely, although he said it with a smirk on his face. The three kids handed their forms to their sensei.

"Good. I'm glad you three decided to join." Kakashi's face broke out into a smile—a smile that no one could see, unless you looked at his creased eyes. "Otherwise, if even one of you had decided to not participate, then the whole team wouldn't be able to enter."

The three kids held their breathe before sighing in relief.

"Oh, wait a minute." Kakashi said as he looked through the forms. "Naruto, you didn't get a signature on yours." Sasuke glared at the blonde while Sakura looked slightly confused at him.

Naruto looked around nervously. "Well, I don't have a guardian, so you can't get someone you don't have to sign your form…"

Kakashi nodded. "Alright then. I'll sign as your guardian then." Kakashi shrugged and Naruto and Sasuke gaped at their sensei, although Sasuke's was a lot lesser than Naruto's. Sakura only smiled at Kakashi, making Kakashi smile back.

"Y-You will, Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed happily, having to hold himself back from hugging the man.

Kakashi shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Sakura wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulder and grinning widely, her eyes shutting with the smile. Since her eyes were closed, she missed Sasuke's glare at Naruto and Naruto's challenging look towards Sasuke. She also missed Kakashi's widened eyes at the two boys.

_Oh, now this is _not_ good…_

She also missed the red eyes beside the group, narrowing in slight anger of the girl hugging on someone else.

The next day, the team of three met at the bridge so they could walk to the examination building together.

"So, how hard do you think it'll be?" Sakura asked her boys softly.

Naruto shrugged then put his hands behind his head and continued walking in silence.

"What's the matter Sakura, losing your confidence?" Sasuke asked teasingly, a playful smirk on his lips.

Sakura pouted. "Hell no. I know I'll pass with flying colors. I'm worried about the baka here." Sakura said, leaning onto Naruto and putting her elbow on his shoulder.

"Mah, Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto whined, slouching down slightly.

Sakura grinned back at him. "Mou, shuddup, Naruto-kun." She said, elbowing him in the ribs, making him "oomph!" in slight pain.

The team walked silently through the halls until they came upon some stairs. Sakura tensed up but kept walking. Sasuke glanced at her, while Naruto ran ahead, yelling about how he would beat them to the exam rooms.

The three walked up the steps until they reached a flat. Sakura's eyebrow twitched as she saw that the sign above everyone's head had a Genjutsu over it.

There was a crowd around a kid who was getting the crap beat out of him by another boy. The two seemed to be bullies, although Sakura guessed they were higher up people, since she could feel the chakra radiating off of them, signifying that it was a henge. She took the lead of the two boys and went into the crowd of kids.

She pushed and shoved without a care and she got many glares, but she ignored them all.

Whenever she got to the space without kids, she grabbed onto the boy in green spandex. He had been thrown her way, but before anyone could do anything, she'd grabbed him before he could hit her.

She had grabbed onto his ankle, so he was dangling upside down from her. He looked up and gaped at her.

Everything was silent until a thud was heard, resulted from Sakura dropping the boy. She turned around and glanced at the kids who were now staring at her-the ones in front of the door.

"If you want to use a henge, try not to put so much chakra into it. Secondly, you shouldn't put so much chakra into your Genjutsu." She then walked away, leaving everyone gaped.

The two kids in front of the door gaped the most as they stared after her.

The boy in green spandex ran after them. "Hey wait!" He called, making the three stop and look back at him. "What's your name?" He asked, stepping in front of Sakura and taking her hand. Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

"My name is Sakura, and please don't touch me." She said, pulling her hand away from him and backing up a few steps. The boy had hearts in his eyes as he gaped at her, almost lovingly.

"My, Sakura-chan, your name suits one as beautiful as you!" The boy exclaimed. "My name is Rock Lee, although you may call me Lee!" Lee phased up to her again and grasped her hand rather firmly but not tightly. "Sakura-chan, I will protect you for the rest of our lives! Please! Go out with me!"

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto gaped at Lee in utter shock.

"W-Wait, what?" Sakura gaped at the boy before she finally shook her head and turned around. She began heading for the stairs and as she walked she said to Lee over her shoulder "Please don't ask me such a stupid question again."

"Oh, how harsh, my beautiful cherry blossom! But I will love you forever more!" Lee cried out, tears rolling down his face. Sakura tensed slightly but she just sped up her walking speed to a brisk walk.

The three finally reached the correct door not even a minute later.

"Ah, I'm glad you three made it." Kakashi's voice rang out from the down-headed kids. The three heads shot up and Sakura smiled at Kakashi. Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head while Sasuke merely grunted in slight annoyance.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said shyly.

"So, Sakura, I heard you looked through Izumo and Kotetsu's Genjutsu." Kakashi said, making Sakura look away with a light blush on her cheeks. Kakashi grinned and looked at the boys on each side of her with a straight face.

"I'm glad you three decided to come together. Otherwise, I couldn't had let you in." Kakashi grinned again and Sakura's breathing stopped and she cast a semi-playful glare towards Kakashi who only ignored it. Kakashi stood up from his crouched position on the floor and gave them a playful look. "Well, have fun kids." Kakashi looked like he forgot something for a moment. "Oh, and I wouldn't make yourself known. There's a lot of rough kids in there." Kakashi stated, making Naruto's ears nearly steam over by his excitement.

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, making Kakashi sweatdrop.

"Yeah. Right." Kakashi then disappeared.

The three opened the door, the boys actually opening them, and a white light lit up through the closed—now opened—doorway.

A crackling went off in Kakashi's ear, who was hidden in the ceiling tiles

'_Kakashi-senpai, are they in?'_

"Hai, they're in."

* * *

><p><strong>AN ok, so, the Chunnin Exams won't be in this one. And this one's hardly 4k words. But, I need to get a chapter up so yeah. Make do with this one. D= I'll work on chapter 6 [The Exams] as soon as I get home after school. I finished this chapter before school, so I need to hury.**

**1) I love you all~ Remember, Naruto's not mine. D:**

**2) Ok, so, I planned that for this chapter, it has the Chunnin Exams in it, but, as you can tell, that's not gonna happen. Just so you guys know, it'll probably be another week before I can get the next chapter up. D= to be honest, I'm kind of losing interest in the fanfiction. Lol. I'M TRYING THOUGH. D: I'm just so tired all the time, but I'm really trying. Lol. I'm actually getting a bit busy in the evenings, so I apologize for the long wait. Tomorrow is Friday September 16, 2011, but it will be another week before chapter 6 gets put out. If that. Lol. It may be two weeks for all I know. I'm really sorry. T.T**

**3) By the way, if the random Japanese annoys you, I'm sorry. D= I can't stand to read it in other fanfictions, but strangely I have to write with it. Why? Because they're originally Japanese and since I'm making them speak English, it just seems to me that they'd want to say random Japanese, especially if they know that the others will be able to understand what they mean. Plus, I like "Kaa-saaan!" better than I like "Motheeeerrrr" lol. Kaa-san sounds better to me, than Mother does. lol. Why? I have no idea. But, eh, lets go with it. :D But yeah, if it annoys you, I'm sorry to tell you this, BUT you'll have to get over it. Why? Cause I'm not changing it. Nope. Sorry. D:**

**4) With all that being said, I love you all, please review more, and I'm gonna go now. Ja!~**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	6. The Exams

**Before we get started, I have one thing to say. There WILL be Japanese names in here; some you're recognize and be able to translate mentally. Others, you probably won't know. I was going to do it at the end, since that would disrupt the story, but instead, I'll do it at the beginning. If you think it'll be a big problem (which, if you want to know something about the people, then I suggest doing this) then **_**write them down!**_** I've even got them wrote down on a post-it note! ….Granted, mine are because I need to know them (since I'm doing this over a time span of two days so…) Anyway. The names are:**

**Hebi-Snake**

**Kumo-Spider**

**Buki-Weapon**

**Aji-Taste**

**Kori-Ice**

**Kan-Sense**

**Nendo-Clay**

**Pouda-Powder (wow, that's so hard!...)**

**Oheina-Arrogant**

**I'll explain why I chose these at the end. NOW TO THE STORY. :D**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 06: The Exams<strong>_

Once the team was inside the doors, Naruto immediately struck a pose and screamed out "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to beat all of you!" before he laughed like an idiot. Everyone in the room glared at the team of noobs, some growling and some snorting at their stupidness.

Sakura bopped Naruto on the back of his head, making more people snort.

"Baka." Sakura hissed under her breathe at him, making him laugh nervously. Everyone else then continued to ignore them, except for the two teams that were now headed for them.

"S-Sorry Sakura-chan, I just couldn't help it though!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I got excited, you know how I am, Sakura-chan!"

A group of three neared them, while one was caught up in an almost-fight between their canine friend and another village's team. Then, the team's female that was closest pounced.

Sakura sighed softly and Sasuke rubbed his temples before he nearly crashed to the ground.

"Ino!" Sasuke said, his voice slightly raised in shock. He heaved a sigh as he finally gained his breathe back. He looked to Sakura for help who only grinned and basically told him that he was on his own.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino called, hugging him around his neck tightly. "I missed you so much, Sasuke-kun!" Ino then purred into his ear "Did you miss me to, Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura scrunched her nose up. "Ok Pig, I think that does it." Ino pouted at Sakura before sliding off of Sasuke and sticking her tongue out at Sakura.

"Alright Forehead." Ino muttered, though she continued to stare dreamily at Sasuke.

Sakura rubbed her temples for she heard someone call out 'yo' to their group of thr-four.

Sakura stopped her glaring at Ino to look at Shikamaru who had walked up with Choji, who held a bag of chips in his hand. _Just like always, of course…_

"Hey Shikamaru." Sakura nodded to Shikamaru then nodded to Choji who nodded before continuing to eat.

"Hey, Billboard brow, think you can pass my grade on this test?" Ino challenged Sakura whose eyebrow twitched at the meager challenge.

"Oh trust me; I'll pass your grade. I'll probably begin to clean the floor with your test." Sakura said, making Ino get closer to her rival to growl in her face, the two's forehead's now touching

The four boys surrounding them sighed softly, one of the guy's mouth full of chips, though.

Shikamaru turned to Sasuke. "So Sasuke, how's life been for you?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke, wondering if he'd get an answer.

Sasuke shrugged before stating in an equally bored tone, "Could be better. Can't complain though."

Shikamaru stared at Sasuke for a moment, shocked that he'd answered, before another team wondered up to them.

"H-Hello, Naruto-kun." The shy Hyuuga heiress stuttered out to her crush, making the two teams in front of her turn to her and exchange greetings with her. Whenever they turned to her, though, she meeped and hid slightly behind Kiba, who only laughed nervously and proceeded to move Hinata out from behind him, making her push against him slightly.

"Ah, Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, making people glance their way.

Sakura sighed while the others decided to greet each other in their own way. Sasuke and Sakura stood behind, opting to be the less-talkative ones.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura. The glance was shyly, although he'd never admit it.

_My feelings…they're growing..._

"So..." Sasuke said softly, but before Sakura could answer him, a man appeared at the front of the room and demanded attention.

"Listen up maggots! Today, _most_ of you will fail this exam!"

Sakura sweatdropped at his entrance.

"This will be your written part of the exam! Come to the front, one at a time, and get a number. Your number will be where you sit! Each table is labeled with a letter; your chair is labeled by a number." The man bellowed out, scaring a lot of the lesser ninjas.

A very large line appeared in front of his desk. There were three of the number machines and each machine held different numbers. Three lines formed, and each person on a team weren't even close to each other. They had ordered one person from each team get into a line, hence why there was three machines instead of one.

The machines were red and on the sides was a see-through glass. In the glass, you could see this fairly large paper wheel, basically. Each time someone turned the lever around 360 degrees, then it would spit out a piece of paper, each piece of paper being about an inch long. If someone were to take all the paper off of the reels, then they'd see that the total paper length was 15 feet, meaning 180 inches.

By the time everyone found their seat, it was 3:00 PM, meaning that at least two hours had passed since the man arrived in the room. The Chunin (or were they Jounin?) around the room were chatting amongst themselves, each wondering who would get caught and who wouldn't. Even the higher-up ninjas could gossip—yes, even the males.

Once everyone got seated, the man asked if there were any questions before he began to state the rules.

Only one hand was raised. "Uh, yeah, who the fuck are you, un?" A blonde kid from the back asked snidely.

The man snorted at him. "Un? What the fuck's wrong with you?" The blonde glared but the man continued on anyway "I am Morino Ibiki, head interrogator of Konoha." Ibiki introduced himself, the way he said the last part, though, made most of the kids in the room shiver at the thought of him interrogating them.

"Hi, Ibiki-chaaaan!" Sakura announced, standing up and leaning over her desk, her hands flat on the desk.

There was dead silence in the room. Ibiki was staring at her, her eyes set into a glare. Sakura glared right back at him, but then suddenly they both smiled at each other.

"Sakura-chaaan!" Ibiki called out happily, his voice more in a sing-song tone than anything.

Everyone stared in shock at Ibiki who was now hugging the little girl as this scenic view of a field with flowers and bright sunshine appeared.

The Chunin in the room sweatdrop before all of them decided to clear their throats. Ibiki looked up alarmed, stopping the imagery.

Sakura appeared at her chair again, her chair leaned back on the hind legs and her feet up on the desk.

Ibiki cleared his throat as well. "So, here are the rules…"

**-One Hour and Fifteen Minutes Later-**

Ibiki yelled out to the kids that time was up.

"There's one last question that you have to answer next." Groans were heard all throughout the room, making Ibiki yell at them to shut up. "Those of you who don't want to fail this exam—and never be able to take them again because you answered this question wrong— then leave. Now." Ibiki watched at least twenty people get up and walk away, all mumbling about how the exams suck.

Sakura straightened up in her chair and stared Ibiki down, who merely ignored her attempts at intimidating him—which worked, by the way—and asked the final question.

"Do you want to pass this test?" Silence ensued in the room, only broken by sneezes or coughs.

Naruto slowly raised this hand up, as if he was asking for permission to speak. Before Ibiki could tell him to speak up, Naruto slammed his hands on his desk as he stood up. "What kind of question is that!" Naruto pointed to Ibiki, his eyes aflame with the Will of Fire. Ibiki took a mental note of this look in his eyes. "Who do you think I am! I am Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be Hokage, so why the hell would I quit this exam?" Ibiki smirked.

"Very good then. The rest of you who haven't _fled_ yet…" Ibiki let his eyes drift over the crowd before a smile broke out on his face. "Congratulations, you have passed my test!"

The only sound after that sentence was a range of sounds. People cursing at Ibiki, people slamming their heads on the desk, and people face-palming.

"Alright, that's enough!" Ibiki called throughout the room, making everyone freeze and making others just grumble under their breathe. "For all of you who are still here, you pass!"

There was silence for a moment before cheers of happiness went throughout the room.

Ibiki grinned. "The next test you take will be given to you by—"

A crash from the window to Ibiki's right cause quite the commotion—especially whenever a large black dot appeared before a banner was thrown across the front of room, in front of Ibiki.

"Ok, listen up you little shits!" A familiar voice called out, making Sakura smirk, her tongue messing with her lip piercing. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, and don't forget it! I'm the proctor for the next exam, so we'll be seeing each other again _real_ soon." Anko winked out to the crowd, in which she caught sight of Sakura and she smiled at her. Sakura smirked at her and stuck her tongue out. Anko playfully glared at Sakura before she continued what she was saying. "Meet tomorrow at the Forest of Death, at eight o'clock sharp. If you aren't there, then you won't be able to participate in the exam, you understand me?"

Everyone nodded and Anko smiled. "Good then."

Ibiki cleared his throat from behind the banner and Anko's face became tinted with a blush.

"Are you quite done, Anko?"

"Erm…yeah." Anko muttered, making Sakura snicker at her. Anko lifted her head back up and glared at Sakura. "What're you laughing at, brat?"

Sakura stopped snickering at her close friend and opted to smirk at her. "Oh nothing, Anko-chan. I'm just laughing at the fact that your face just turned beat red—in a blush, I might add." Anko's eyes narrowed even further and Ibiki sighed and dismissed the class.

Team 7 gathered at Sakura's desk, seeing as Sakura wasn't getting up since she was too busy staring at Anko with that smirk still placed on her lips.

"So, Sakura-chan, wanna go out for ramen with Sasuke and I?" Naruto asked, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder. Sakura glanced up at him, making Anko smirk and Sakura pout at her loss.

"Sure Naruto-kun. I'm sure we'll pick up some dango while we're out to." Sakura said, raising her voice about the dango part. Naruto looked at her confused while Sasuke looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Anko gaped up at her with a pout set upon her lips.

"I want some dango..." Sakura heard Anko mutter to herself before she walked up to Sakura. "So, how do you like those facial piercings, Sakura-chan?" Anko asked, her voice a slight purr. Naruto and Sasuke looked at her shocked while Sakura grinned at her.

"I like them rather well. This bitch was having to put them in though, and she kind of made them hurt…" Sakura said, playing with her lip ring absentmindedly. Anko narrowed her eyes at her.

"I'm glad it hurt. Sounds like the bitch had the right mind to." Anko sneered, looking at Sakura fiercely.

"Uh…we'll get…ramen some other time." Naruto mumbled before Sasuke pulled him away, muttering about how Sakura wouldn't hear him.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the woman before standing up and briefly walking away.

"And where do you think you're going?" Anko asked, following the girl.

"Well, I need to get ready for the next exam. You wouldn't tell me what it's about, would you?" Sakura asked, glancing over at the smirking woman.

_Someone's got a few mood swings…_ Anko thought to herself, smirking down at Sakura.

"Nope. I wouldn't." Anko said, a huge grin plastered on her face. Sakura's shoulders sank and she sighed.

"Too bad." Sakura muttered softly before she looked at Anko with a calculative look on her face. "Will a few batches of homemade dango work for you?" Sakura asked, eyeing the now drooling Anko.

"Maybe." Anko said, drooling and looking up into the heavens with a dazed, pleased look on her face. "If I get all the pink and green ones!" Anko announced suddenly, making Sakura stare at her gaped.

"B-But…I love the green ones..." Sakura pouted softly before she harrumphed and agreed. "You tell me about the exam—just what we have to do will suffice—and I'll fix you all the pink and green dango you can eat." Sakura said stiffly, mentally sulking that she'll be getting the white ones then.

Anko cheered loudly, making everyone in the hallway stare at her oddly. "Oi, what the fuck are you pigs looking at!" Anko yelled, scaring everyone into turning away rigidly. Frankly, most people didn't want to die…yet.

Sakura shook her head, chuckling softly.

"Hey Sakura?" Anko called softly into Sakura's room after having opened the door a crack.

"Hmm?" Sakura murmured sleepily, not even cracking an eye open.

"I have to leave now."

"What time is it?" Sakura mumbled, sitting up in bed and stretching towards the sky.

"It's midnight." Anko said, freezing Sakura mid-stretch.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Anko.

"Why're you leaving at this time of night?"

Anko was silent for a moment before she slipped into the room.

"I have to comb through the Forest of Death and make sure nothing is there that _isn't_ supposed to be there." Anko said softly, making Sakura chuckle softly.

"Alright. Have fun with that." Sakura smirked snidely and Anko snorted before nodding and walking back out of the room.

Sakura was dressed in a pair of black short shorts and a black tank top. One sleeve on her tank top, though, was currently slid off of her shoulders and she pushed it back onto her shoulder as she glanced at the window.

Once she felt Anko leave her sense range, she turned her head to the window.

"You can come in now, Itachi." She mumbled before laying back down, waiting for the cold air to hit her exposed flesh.

As she expected, the man slunk through the, now, open window.

"Sakura." Itachi acknowledged as he rose his eyebrow at her cuddled form.

She sat up and patted the end of her bed near her feet, and small smile placed on her lips.

"How have you been, Sakura?" Itachi asked her softly, sitting down on her, surprisingly, soft bed.

Sakura shrugged half-heartedly. "I've been fine. I'm taking the Chunin Exams, although I guess you've heard that from outside the village, hmm?" Sakura asked softly before she tilted her head. "If you get cold, you can get under the covers as well." Sakura smirked slyly at what she said, making Itachi shift uncomfortably for a moment before he glanced at her before returning to stare out the window.

"I…appreciate the offer, Sakura." Itachi mumbled before he scooted farther back on the bed so his legs would be stretched out in front of him. He let a soft smile graze his face.

"So, what'd you come here for, Itachi?" Sakura asked him after a minute of silence.

He sighed softly and turned his head towards her. He tilted his head. "Your Chunin Exam is exactly why I'm here." He smirked. "I hear that this year, there could be preliminaries before the real third exam. The proctors will allow a month of hard training between the preliminaries and the exams." Sakura gaped at him, wondering how he could get his hands on this information. "I assume the first proctor was rather shocked by the number of kids who remained. They assume it will be the same for the rest of the exams—they expect to be shocked. So, they've already scheduled a preliminary." Itachi shrugged. "Either way, you would get the month break between the second and third exams."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, further wondering what his point of being in her room was.

"And? You're here, in my room, why….?" Sakura asked softly, making Itachi smirk.

"I am offering to train you."

Sakura gaped at him in utter shock.

Sakura began to sputter utter nonsense in her shock, making Itachi beyond amused.

"But," Itachi began, which snapped Sakura's mouth closed. "if you do not pass the second exam, then I will not train you. You have to prove to me that you're worthy of my training." He then stood up and got in front of her and put a single finger under her chin to force her to look up at him. He smirked from the light blush on her cheeks. "Do not disappoint me, Sakura." He mumbled before he was suddenly gone, her window closed.

Sakura stared at the place his onyx eyes had once been in shock.

Part of her was utterly shocked but…the other part was rather amused.

_It seems I have another reason to pass this exam, huh._

**-3 Hours Earlier-**

"Itachi, what is it you need me for?" Pein's voice rang out through the dark room, Itachi's form flicking in that rainbow colored hologram.

"I have a request."

"With Sakura again?"

Itachi remained silent for a moment, confirming Pein's question.

"I see." Pein muttered before motioning Itachi to continue, his own body flicking slightly.

"I wish to train her."

Pein raised an eyebrow. "Train her?"

"Yes. I am quite sure that she will pass the second exam, so I wish to….assist her." Itachi said, raising an eye at the last part of his sentence. Surprisingly to Itachi, Pein began to sputter nonsense.

"Y-You want to-to what!" Pein finally spat out. Itachi raised his eyebrow and chuckled.

"It's not like I'm asking her to marry me, Leader-sama. I just want to help her train. After all, Kakashi-kun isn't training her, as I'm sure you've noticed." Itachi said smirking while Pein looked away with a slight pout.

"I see your point." He threw an arm up into the air in slight defeat. "Fine, do what you want. But I am warning you, Uchiha." Pein was suddenly in Itachi's face with his narrowed Rin'negan eyes planted onto Itachi's own Doujutsu.

"If you hurt my sister in any way…" Pein's eyes narrowed even further. "I _will_ kill you."

Itachi merely smirked before flickering out.

**-Present-**

The next morning, Sakura was woken up by Anko standing over her bed, glaring down at her.

Sakura groaned and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Anko-chan?"

"Why're you not up yet?" Anko ground out, gritting her teeth together in annoyance. "The exam starts in two hours and you haven't even done your morning exercises. What happened last night?" Anko's eyebrow twitched.

Sakura stilled in her stretching when she heard that the exam was in two hours. She sputtered out nonsense as she flew around the room, getting ready for her morning exercises. Anko stopped her before she could begin, though.

"Nope, now you don't have time. You're coming with me." Anko said, now grinning madly. Sakura gulped in fear.

_Oh dear._

An hour later, Sakura was standing in front of the Forest of Death with her teammates. Team 7 had been the first ones to arrive there. Why, because Anko forced Sakura to go wake up her teammates so they could help Anko get ready for all the other teams.

Sakura sighed as she organized the papers with the Chunnins who were also helping with the exam.

"You know, Sakura-san," a Chunin muttered to her "you can just sit down somewhere and I'll do this. After all, you're a test taker and I'm being paid for this." He nodded towards a chair beside him and Sakura looked at it longingly but before she could step towards it, she shook her head whenever she heard Anko screaming at Naruto.

"No, it's ok. If she sees me slacking…" Sakura shivered lightly making the Chunin smile lightly.

"Alright, you make yourself _look_ busy, but don't actually do anything." The Chunin mutter before he went back to work.

Sakura sighed softly before she turned around to see Anko in her face, smiling evilly at her.

"Next job, Sakura-chan?"

_Oh dear god._

"Welcome to the second exam, maggots!" Anko yelled out through the, now, silent area. "During this exam, some of you _will_ die!" Some people coughed while others kept their horrified faces on.

"So why're we allowed to take this test if we'll die!" One boy said from Mizu. Anko snorted loudly.

"Kid, you're a ninja. Chances are you won't live to be thirty. You'll be damn lucky to make it to twenty, nonetheless twenty-five." She sneered at him whenever he paled.

_Idiot…_ Sakura thought softly _We're ninja. Ninja die in our line of work. If you wanted to be safe all the time then you should've been a civilian…._

Anko nodded towards Sakura who shrugged. Anko, recently, had gotten very well at basically reading Sakura's mind…

"Everyone will sign this release form-" Anko held up a single piece of paper before she used the same hand to point to the Chunin who waved awkwardly at the kids "and you will get this release form from the Chunin you see to your left!"

As Sakura's team was drifting to the Chunin with the release forms, she noticed a few weird individuals. Firstly she noticed a Grass ninja staring at her, a semi-hungry look in her eyes. Sakura twitched before letting her eyes drift to someone else. She noticed a boy with red hair—a Sand ninja) looking towards her boredly.

If she remembered correctly, he was the one her team had met earlier. His name was Gaara, she dully remembered.

_Flashback: Begin_

"_Naruto!" A boy wailed as he was nearly being choked by a guy with make-up on his face. Naruto turned the corner with Sakura and glared at the boy._

"_Hey, put Konohamaru down!" The man with make-up smirked at him before tightening his grip on the kid, even bouncing him slightly, making Konohamaru choke._

"_Kankurou..." A girl behind the make-up guy mumbled._

"_Shut up Temari, Gaara's not here so I want to have some fun." Kankurou sneered at Temari who only snorted at him._

"_Fine, whatever, but whenever Gaara finds out, I had no say in this."_

_Kankurou rolled his eyes at the girl before he continued to smirk at the two in front of him._

"_So you're sand ninja?" Sakura asked him stonily, making Kankurou smirk._

"_Yeah, you got a problem with that?"_

"_No. No problem." Suddenly, Sakura phased to be right behind Kankurou, using the thing on his back to yank him backwards, making him fall onto his back. He released Konohamaru so he could catch himself._

"_I was just wondering why a weakling like you came from Sand. I heard they were really strong over there, and I only see this petty bully." Sakura let a soft sneer come over her face while Naruto and Konohamaru looked at her in fright. _

"_Oh god, Sakura's pissed." Naruto mumbled to Konohamaru, making Konohamaru look even more scared._

"_Mommy..." Konohamaru mumbled._

"_Hey, don't treat my brother like that!" Temari called to Sakura._

_Sakura glanced back at her, her standing over the angry Kankurou._

"_if you don't want you brother to be treated like that, then I suggest putting a collar on him so he won't try to bully kids who are half his age." Sakura hissed towards the sister, her head turned towards her._

_Temari gulped at the glare she was receiving. She glanced up at the tree to see her youngest brother glaring at her._

"_G-Gaara!" Temari exclaiming, making Kankurou scramble up._

"_Kankurou, you're picking fights again." The boy stated coldly, suddenly appearing beside the shocked Kankurou._

"_Uh, er…" _

"_Since he's too busy feeling scared and guilt, I'll answer for him." Sakura said coldly, staring Gaara in the eyes. "Yes, he was picking fights. I suggest putting a collar on him to keep him from trying to assert his dominance over others. Next he'll be humping random people's legs." She stared at Kankurou, giving him a glare that he swore could rival Gaara's._

_Gaara stared coldly at Sakura before he suddenly dipped his head, making his eyes shadowed. Temari looked fearful at Gaara, while Kankurou also looked at Gaara with the same look._

"_G-Gaara, are you ok?" Temari mumbled to the boy._

_All of a suddenly, Gaara was smiling. Evilly. Towards Sakura. Sakura stared at the smiling boy with a tilt of her head._

"_Yes, Konoha is a very interesting place." Gaara lifted his head to show his demonic looking eyes and a smile on his lips. Temari and Kankurou looked fearful at Sakura, hoping Gaara wouldn't kill her._

_Sakura raised her eyebrow at the boy's sparking green eyes and the demonic smile on his lips. "Yes, yes it is. And don't forget it, kid." She said snidely, smirking back at him._

_Gaara snickered lightly before he turned around. "I can't wait to kill you." _

_Now it was Sakura's turn to smile evilly. "I can't wait for you to try."_

_Gaara let out a snort before he began to walk away, leaving his two other siblings staring after him._

_The only thing that brought them out of their trance was a rock being thrown at Kankurou's neck, making the boy wince and cry out in shock._

"_Ow, what the fuck!" he exclaimed, making Gaara pause. Everybody in that alleyway looked up to the tree to see Sasuke leaning against the tree._

"_Sasuke, you're developing Sensei's habit." Sakura said smoothly, making Sasuke smirk and Naruto snicker._

"_Yeah, _Sasuke-sensei._" Naruto replied snidely, making Sasuke toss a rock at his head. "Ouch! Teme!"_

_Sasuke jumped from the tree limb to the ground beside Sakura._

"_You, red head. What's your name?" Sasuke asked, making Sakura glance at the red head._

_Gaara turned around slightly, angling his body to where the kids could see his side. Gaara was staring mostly at Sakura, although he glanced at Sasuke every few seconds. "Gaara." He muttered before he turned fully towards them once more. "What are your names?"_

"_I'm Uzumaki Naruto and-" Naruto began, only to be hit on the head by Sakura._

"_He was talking to us, Blonde." Sakura said, smirking at her pouting teammate. She then turned to the boy who was gazing at her with a weird look in his eyes._

"_I am Sakura Haruno; it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Gaara-kun." Sakura replied sweetly, making Gaara's eyebrow raise before he looked to Sasuke._

"_Sasuke Uchiha." He replied smoothly, making Gaara nod._

_Gaara then turned back around and the moment his foot touched the ground, he dispersed into swivels of sand._

"_He's amused." Temari said grimly. Kankurou merely nodded before they, to, disappeared._

_Flashback: End_

The moment she smirked at him, his eyes lit up with amusement, making Temari and Kankurou shift their eyes to her. She merely turned her head as the Chunin continued to explain what they were to put onto the sheet.

Whenever all the teams got their scroll and their papers signed, Anko decided to talk once again.

"I'll explain some things now." Sakura heard Naruto mumble _finally_ under his breath, hoping Anko wouldn't hear it. She did.

A kunai glanced over his cheek, drawing a trail of blood. Sakura sweatdropped when Anko appeared before him and licked the blood off, making him shiver in fear. She mumbled into his ear about disrespecting people (mostly _her_ though) when all of a sudden a kunai was pushed near her face, a tongue wrapped around the hilt, making Anko scowl at the tongue.

"I'm just returning your kunai." The woman said, a slight hiss to her S's. Anko glanced at the girl before she took the kunai from the uncurling tongue with a disgusted look on her face.

"Erm…yeah, thanks." Anko muttered before she suddenly phased to the front of the crowd. "Anyway…" She mumbled, before casting a glance at each and every genin in front of her.

"So, here's the rules. You've all been assigned a gate number. Two teams are assigned to each gate. You must get there before nine thirty, or else you're disqualified from the exam!" Anko then glanced to a watch that was on her wrist. _God I hate watches…I can't wait until I get home and I can destroy the damn thing…_ "you've got ten minutes!"

Before she gave the signal for everyone to go, she told them sharply "Whenever it's time for you to go into the gates, you'll know. You'll have a minute to get into the gate before the gate will close once more and you fail your exams. Am I understood?" Anko yelled throughout the crowd, making people either wince or scowl at the woman. "Good! Escape to your gates!"

Once Sakura's team was at their gate, they were surprised to see the Rock team. On this team, there was the blonde who had asked Ibiki who he was.

"Hey, un." The boy called to Sakura, dragging the Konoha team's attention to the boy. "If you ever need some help in the exams, you can come to me, baby, un." The boy said to Sakura, making her roll her eyes.

"Stupid Deidara." One of his teammates grumbled under their breath, causing Deidara to start screaming at them.

In the middle of Deidara calling his teammate an array of names (and the Konoha team looking at the argument in amusement), the ground suddenly shook.

The kids tensed and Sasuke and Sakura used their chakra to grasp onto the ground, just to feel safer. Naruto ended up falling on his butt, same with Deidara. Deidara's teammates merely blinked at Deidara, who was pouting.

"ENTER!" The guard beside the gate announced, scaring the kids out of their thoughts.

The two teams darted into the forest, splitting up and going their own ways.

Ten minutes of running, they came to a field. "We need to come up with a plan and a password." Sakura announced, making Sasuke nod and Naruto look around nervously.

"I hate passwords…" He muttered sourly. Sakura snorted at him but then turned to Sasuke.

"We can trust _no one_ in this exam. When we stop for breaks, we need to immediately set up traps within our perimeters." She nodded to Sasuke. "Because of your Sharingan, you can search for movement in the area around us." She then looked between the two boys with a smirk on her face. "I can sense the chakra around us, so if someone casts a Genjutsu or anything, I'll immediately know and will break it." She nodded to Naruto " And Naruto…well….you can be our moral support." She said with a smirk, teasing Naruto who pouted and exclaimed his displeasure.

"Most likely, we should probably make some friends in this exam, so we can have each others backs." Sasuke looked at her with interest. "We need allies from other places. This will allow us to have all the more possibility to succeed. Of course, this means we'll have to attack more people, since there's more of us and we all want the same thing-" Sakura held up a scroll that she made out of a stick (thank god for a henge, although those around them don't know that) "a scroll. To show our trust, we show them our scroll."

Sasuke and Naruto gaped at her. "W-What?" Sasuke asked, his mouth wide open and a twitch on his left eye.

She raised her eyebrows. "You heard me, and I assume you understand. We're more than likely to trust Konoha-nin better than other nin, but we should at least try to get close with other nin. I have two nin teams in mind that aren't in our village." She smirked. "You two know each one."

Sasuke slowly nodded, getting back his composure. "Half the time, we should travel together so we can keep a close nit unity, while other times we should comb out the lands for food, shelter, and others with the scrolls." Sakura nodded at him with a smile.

"I propose we try to get as many scrolls as possible, just so long as we have the two that we need." She then went up to Sasuke and took the scroll out of his kunai pouch. He had a light blush dusting his cheeks, but Sakura ignored it.

She held it up and then used a henge on it to make it look like a roll of bandages, in which she smirked at them before beginning to unwrap the bandages that she already had on her right arm and once those were off, she wrapped the fake bandages on her right arm in their place. She rolled the other bandages into a roll and stuff it into her kunai pouch.

"Now, us three know that it's there, and so do the nins behind us." Sakura nodded her head backwards, making Naruto and Sasuke tense up and pull out kunai. Sakura tilted her head but remained still.

"Ah, we've been caught." A woman mumbled in the darkened forest. The team hissed, recognizing the voice as the girl with the long tongue who handed Anko her kunai back.

Sakura tensed and she turned around, a kunai in both hands. She crouched down slightly and turned her body to the side. Sasuke followed her stance, but he didn't turn as much as she did. Naruto just held a kunai up, but he crouched down slightly, getting ready to jump.

"Ah, such paranoid children." The woman hissed out, a hint of amusement in her words. "My teammates and I," she motioned to the two teammates beside her, who smirked. "overheard your plan and agree with your plans. We wish to join with you, going around to steal other genin's scrolls." She licked her lips, causing the kids to shiver, although the only one who really showed it was Naruto.

Sakura released her stance. "How do we know we can trust you?" Sasuke glanced at her and eased up on his stance slightly, although not too much.

The girl smirked. "Well, as you said, you'll just have to trust us foreigners…" She then reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out an Earth scroll. Team 7 eyed the scroll. "This is our scroll. We've showed you ours, now you show us yours." Sakura twitched "After all, those were the terms you spoke of, correct?"

Sakura sighed and held out her right arm. She bent her elbow so her right hand would be pointing to Naruto, who was on her left. She put her left hand under her right forearm and released the henge on the bandage. The scroll fell into her awaiting hand.

Sasuke and Naruto watched the other team wearily, waiting for them to make their next move. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated.

"Shall we travel together?"

Sakura stared hard at them before she finally sighed. _She has a chakra gathering around her right eye, I don't like it. Also, she's got a small line of chakra around her face…._ Sakura gazed at the woman a bit longer. _I wonder who exactly this girl is._

"Remove the charka from your eye, and you have a deal." Sakura spoke coldly, letting the woman know that she meant business. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at her, their eyes widened in shock. _How'd she know that?_ Both of them thought.

The girl's eyes widened slightly before her eyes narrowed once more and she smirked. The charka drained from her eyes. "Is that better?"

Sakura nodded. "What are your names?" Sakura asked, putting a hand onto Sasuke and Naruto's shoulders. Both of them tensed up before relaxing slightly.

The woman smirked before speaking. "If it's alright with you, we're going to use codenames." Sakura narrowed her eyes at her. "It's merely how we are taught to do in Kumo." Sakura sighed and nodded. "I am Hebi, and these two are Kumo and Buki." The man with reddish skin grinned whenever Hebi said the name Buki, meaning his name was Buki.

"I see." Sakura muttered before she held up a finger towards them and she gathered her two boys into her. "Well, since they're going to use fake names, I say we should use fake names. Sasuke, you're Kori." Sasuke glared at her while Naruto snickered. "Naruto, you're Aji." Sasuke smirked at Naruto, who was now pouting.

"What about your name, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered

"I'll be Kan." Sasuke snorted, making Sakura smack him upside the head. "We got our names? This means no calling each other by our real name for the rest of this exam. Are we clear?" The two boys nodded. Naruto mumbled to himself, though, that he wanted to be called ramen. Sakura only ignored him with a sigh.

"Since you're using code names, we will as well." She smirked at them. "I am Kan. My dark friend here," Sakura motioned towards Sasuke who nodded. "is Kori. My hyperactive friend here," Sakura then motioned to Naruto who held up a peace sign and stuck his tongue out, making Sakura sweatdrop "is Aji." Sakura then smirked. "Please treat us kindly."

Hebi smirked darkly. "That we will, Kan-chan."

The rest of that day was going around and searching for other team's and their scrolls. So far they had managed to apprehend three other scrolls, two heavens and a earth. Team 7 kept two of the scrolls (the earth scroll and a heaven scroll) while Team Hebi kept the heaven scroll, claiming that the second scroll to the Konoha team was more of a peace offering than anything.

Later that evening, they met a familiar face…

* * *

><p><strong>AN Buwahaha. Sorry to end it here people, buuut…I cut off a large chunk (OVER 2K WORDS!) and put it into Chapter 7. It's still over 6k words….but still. Lol. This'll give you something to chew over. There's still much to come. =D**

**Ok, the explanation of the names! (by the way, no one comment on the lack of numbers for the random topics…that'll come later. Lol.)**

**So, Hebi is kind of obvious. Hebi is Orochimaru, and Hebi means snake. See the connection? Yeah. Ya' do.**

**Next is Kumo. In the anime, I don't remember what the other dude looks like, and we don't know anything about him (or even see him ever again. We see him and his red-skinned friend twice and then they're just gone from existence) so I just decided to make him an expendable character. His "name" is Kumo, or Spider, merely because I'm trying to keep a theme up with Team Hebi (lol, get it? I used the future name of…nevermind.)**

**Next up is the "red-skinned friend" I mentioned in the paragraph above. His name is Buki, or weapon. I can see him as being a human weapon. He was rather large and yeah…**

**Next is Team 7. Aji is Naruto. Aji means Taste. I chose that because…well..he likes to eat. So sue me. D=**

**I loved this one. Sasuke is Kori, or Ice. I think it fits anyway….**

**Sakura is Kan, which means sense. Since her senses are much better than others (coughSURPRESSEDRIN'NEGANcough), she gets the name Kan for her extraordinary advantage.**

**Now for the Rock Team, who show up in the next chapter. The Rock Team is the part I cut from this one…you'll like it. =D I like the fl-bjldfjosdjfsdj. No spoilers. Blah. Anyway.**

**Deidara gets to be clay, which translates into Nendo, therefore the team name: Team Nendo. Remember that. I say it a bit in the next chapter…**

**Deidara's teammates are also expendable, so you can probably guess what happens to them. The red haired one (who I mention next chapter) is going to be called Oheina, or Arrogant. Deidara picked his team names, can you tell?**

**The OTHER teammate is someone who I'm just barely thinking of. He's so expendable that he doesn't even say anything….but anyway. His hair colors blue (not that you'd know that…) and his name is Pouda, or Powder. Yeah. **_**That's**_** a hard name to try to translate, eh?**

**Now for the numbers…**

**1) Hey guys!~ How are my lovely readers? =D Has anyone read the story Second Chance? …I suggest it for you ItaSaku fans. Seriously. It's awesome. Tri17 writes it. I've reviewed twice on her story and she enjoyed it, I do believe. Even if Tri17 doesn't read Pain of Siblings, I still dedicate this chapter to her. Why? Because she has AWESOME writing skills. =D**

**2) Review. Guys, I love reviews. If I don't get more reviews, where will my inspiration come from…? D: I certainly don't pull them from my ass…well, usually I don't but still…**

**3) Now that I've been thinking about the story, the plotline is **_**really**_** starting to slide through. Events are clicking into place and twists are starting to spiral the road to the climax of the arc. What's the climax of the arc, well…Sasuke gets turned into a pink bunny and ends up doing the Cupid Shuffle with Tsunade on his bunny shoulders.**

**Does that really happen? …Probably not. I'd love to fit it in somewhere though…hm..-strokes imaginary beard- I'll try to put that in somewhere…buwahaha. But ONLY IF I GET FIVE REVIEWS THIS CHAPTER. BUWAHAHAHAHAA-hacks and falls over twitching-**

**4) -jumps back up and holds up a sign- I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. I kind of wish I did, but then I wouldn't get all of these super epic ideas.**

**5) …Spoiler alert. If you don't read the manga, then DON'T READ THIS BULLET.**

**OH MAH GAWD. TOBI'S NOT MADARA! WHAT THE FUUUUUUUCK. D: So who's Tobi? I'm guessing it's Madara's brother, Izuna. I could be wrong though. Any comments? I'm up to debates on who Tobi is. I should seriously start doing debates…they're fun..until you get into an argument, then….they're not so fun…**

**6) Uhm…I've done over 500 words, I think. The scroll bar isn't nearly as small as it was…D= Oh well…guys, I'm going to post this now and then probably go to bed. I'm kinda tired and it's 10:11 P.M. lol. I'm tired.**

**7) OH. ONE LAST THING. D= If you see any mistakes like "Sakura looked to Sakura oddly." Or anything, where it's OBVIOUSLY supposed to be someone **_**else**_** she looks at oddly…(of course that sentence won't be used in the fanfiction, maybe, but it's only an example) then TELL ME. I noticed one of those types of sentences in Chapter 2. But guess what? The sixty days had already ran out on the document in my document manager! So I couldn't change it! Uwahhh! That's why I need you guys to tell me on my mistakes! D= I can't catch everything I do.**

**Please everyone…be my beta…? If you tell me my mistakes…I MAY add Sasuke as a little pink bunny, doing the Cupid Shuffle with Tsunade on his bunny shoulders…BUT ONLY IF YOU TELL ME. D=**

**Anyway, night people, I love you, REVIEW. -hearts-**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	7. The Extended

**Ok, sorry this had to be cut out, but hey, no hard feelings, right…? -dodges random projectiles being thrown at me- Oh god! -begins the fanfiction to get away from the awful projectiles-**

_**Chapter 07: The Extended**_

"Coming to see me, babe?"

Sakura face palmed and glared at him. Before Hebi could attack him, Sakura held out a hand, motioning for everyone to come out.

Deidara gaped at the ground.

"W-Why's there six of you, un?" Deidara mumbled quietly, almost whimpering.

"We've come for a sort of peace treaty." Sakura announced, making Deidara look shocked. "If you'll get your other teammates, we'll explain." Sakura announced stonily, insisting that he should do so.

"It's for your own health, boy." Hebi hissed at him, making Deidara snort before he did a series of signals to pull in his team.

"What is it, Deida-" His teammates halted in what they were saying whenever they spotted the two teams in front of Deidara and Deidara's pouting face.

"Hello." Sakura called softly, jarring them from their thoughts.

The two got beside their teammate, donning an attack position.

"We aren't here to fight." Hebi hissed out, making the three in front of them tense up. Deidara glanced to his teammates and with a simple nod of his head—once they caught his eye—he signaled for them to relax a bit.

"Then what _are_ you here for?" The red haired kid on Deidara's team asked, a slight sneer on his lips.

"We're here for a peace treaty." The two new boys let out yells about how she was lying, but she put a stop to that by holding up her hand. "Wait until I explain." She observed them as she spoke to them. "For this peace treaty, we're basically stating that we trust each other—as much as Shinobi can trust, especially whenever they're pitted against each other—by showing where our scrolls are hidden. What we want to do is steal scrolls until the second to last day. That second to last day, we will escape to the tower and then rest."

Deidara raised an eyebrow at her. "How many scrolls have you stolen so far?"

"Three. Two heaven and one earth." Sasuke said coldly, making Deidara glare at him briefly before looking at the cute pink-haired girl in front of him.

_So, I'm supposed to protect this one? _Mentally, Deidara snorted. _She doesn't need protection...but then again…with the man-erm, _girl_ they're with…_

Deidara nodded to Sakura to continue.

"With this alliance," Sakura changed the word since they weren't going to be using any written documents "we will help steal other scrolls _and_ we will protect each other. This will allow for each of us to take turns while we sleep, so we are more rested. Of course, the ones who require less sleep will go first, since they're used to it and are able to function without a full night's rest. After the first night, we will do rotations." She then nodded to Team Hebi. "I don't know about you guys, but Team Hebi's going to be running the first night." She smirked at the snicker that came from Team Hebi.

"Also, we take turns to set up different traps, and get food. One person from each team will set out to gather enough food for their team, and their team only. So that means, no sharing between teams. The no sharing refers to food only, of course." A mischievous glint rang in her eyes. "Also, at times we split up, so we'll need to come up with a more elaborate signal system, one that is unknown to any village." She smirked.

"While we are split up, whatever scrolls you acquire, you get to keep them for yourself. Do not think that you will be doing no work." Her eyes flashed with an emotion that could only be described as "bossy." She then looked over at her team then at Hebi. "Am I forgetting anything?" Sakura asked in a slight hum, thinking she didn't forget anything.

Sasuke shrugged and just careless threw out, "We're making this alliance because different talents in ninjas mean that you have even more of an advantage against enemies. I assume you can figure out the rest."

The Rock team stood in awe of Sakura. Her plan had its kinks, yes, but it was a brilliant idea in the making.

"Let us to talk about this first…" The group of Iwa-nin walked away slowly and gathered into a circle, leaving a content and confident Sakura and a curious Hebi.

"Do you think they'll accept, Kan-chan?"

"Of course they will, Hebi. Of course they will."

* * *

><p>"Fine, we accept." Deidara slowly eased his hand towards his pouch.<p>

"And all we have to do is show you our scrolls?" The red haired boy on the team said, about to reach into his pouch as well.

"Ah-ha." Sakura took the same stance she did with Hebi and let the scroll drop from her arm, fully in tact. She then glanced to Sasuke to see that he already had both of his scrolls in his hands. Sakura had decided to make the other two scrolls into bandages as well and let Sasuke wrap them around his forearms, like hers. Naruto said that he wanted some, so the next scroll they got they would have to give it to Naruto, who would wear it around his head—or so he says.

The boys took their scrolls from their pouches. Each of the teammates had one, totaling three.

Hebi pulled out their two scrolls from her pouch as well.

Sakura smirked.

"This will be a fun exam."

**-Akatsuki hide out; 6 hours earlier; 10:00 A.M.-**

"Leader-sama." Zetsu called into his office after clawing through the ground.

"Hmm?" Pein murmured as he had his head laid down on his desk, his paperwork making a make-shift pillow.

"We may have a problem." Pein raised an eyebrow at the duel-personality plant. **"Yeah. With Sakura-chan."**

Pein's head shot up and he looked at Zetsu with his eyes glowing with a demonic gray, making Zetsu shift in unease at the sudden anger and static electricity in the air.

"If there's a problem, then _why are you here?_" Pein's voice boomed throughout the office, making Zetsu flinch slightly.

"I asked Itachi to watch her. **Yeah, he immediately took off towards her.**"

Pein rubbed his temples as he remained to sit.

"What's the problem?" Pein grinded out through clinched teeth.

"Uhm…**Orochimaru's with Sakura.**" Zetsu gaped at Pein's sudden lack of control once the words were released from Zetsu's lips..

Pein's eyes suddenly flared even brighter and a lightning bolt struck an area near their base, thankfully not causing a fire. Even if it had caused a fire, the intense rain would have put the fire out immediately. The resounding crackling of thunder made the earth quiver in fear.

Pein was making the weather go out of control.

"L-Leader-sama?" Konan asked as she poked her head into the door way, regretting it the moment she saw Pein's distress. "Pein-sama, what's the matter?" She asked hurriedly as she walked into the room, not even bothering to shut the door. Kisame stood at the doorway, wondering if something was happening with Sakura.

"_**That damn Orochimaru!**_" Pein yelled out before punching a nearby wall, causing it to crumble to the floor. Konan stared at the wall with shock.

"P-Pein-sama, calm down! You'll destroy the hideou-" before she could finish though, Pein had grabbed her roughly by the neck.

"_Orochimaru is with Sakura and you expect me to fucking __**care**__ about the hideout!" _Pein snarled in her face, scaring her even further. Her eyes flashed with the rare fear.

-And that's what brought Pein back to his senses. He gaped at her as her face suddenly started to drain in color. He hurriedly let go of her throat.

"I-I-"

As Konan was trying to regain her much needed air, she held up a hand, her left hand placed on her knee so she wouldn't fall to the floor.

"My god Leader-sama. What happened?" Kisame asked, stepping into the room, drawing Pein's eyes.

Pein's eyes widened at him before he glanced over at Zetsu, to see that even his eyes were widened in shock and fear. Kisame's eyes were wide as well, but with more shock than fear.

Pein fell to the floor with a tired sigh. "I'm sorry Konan. I lost control over myself briefly." Pein sent her a mental message saying _'Go check on my body now. I was thrashing. There's no telling what kind of damage I did to myself.'_ Konan nodded once she finally gulped in enough air.

"So, what's the deal with Sakura?" Kisame asked, stopping a few feet in front of Pein.

Pein sighed and rubbed his temples, telling Konan to go now. She scurried off, the boys not sparing her a glance.

"Orochimaru is following Sakura-chan. **He's planning to try to kill her, I bet. He knows her as Leader-sama's sister. **He was in the organization at one point, ya' know. **I know that dumb shit. **Sheesh, I was just saying…" Zetsu continued to converse with himself until he caught the glare of Pein, in which both sides of himself shut up. Quickly.

"What are we going to do, Leader-sama?" Kisame asked, now sitting on the floor in front of Pein. _You can't tell, Leader-sama, but all of us are affected by this…_

Pein leaned against his desk and put the back of his head onto his desk roughly. "What do you propose we do, Kisame?" Pein asked with a raised eyebrow towards said shark-man.

Kisame snorted. "If I had it my way, I would run to Konoha at this very moment, utterly _obliterate_ Orochimaru, then steal Sakura and bring her back _home._"

The way Kisame said home brought a stinging feeling to Pein's chest.

_Yes…this is Sakura's home. Sakura…I can't wait until you come home…three years…_

Pein chuckled sadly before smirking lightly. "You're just as angry about this, aren't you?"

Kisame grinned, although this grin seemed to be more demonic and angry than his regular grins. "Why of course, Leader-sama. Pinky was just as much of a sister to me as she was to you. Just, ya' know, without the blood part." Kisame looked at Pein sheepishly, which made Pein laugh out loud.

"I see" Pein said, still chuckling slightly.

Kisame and Zetsu glanced at each other in astonishment—Pein had broken slightly. His emotions were running free at the moment.

"Zetsu, do you have anything to report?"

"Yes, one thing."

Pein raised his eyebrow at Zetsu, urging him on. Kisame also looked at Zetsu with a raised eyebrow, wondering what it was.

"Itachi has made contact with the latest potential member. **The boy demanded a fight but Itachi declined and said after the exams. **Itachi told the boy to watch after a pink haired girl for the duration of the exam. **I think he knew who Itachi was referring to. He later walked off talking about a cute pink-haired girl getting into trouble. He scoffed at the thought. **He said that she looked too cold and too strong to ever be in any _real_ trouble." Zetsu said, nodding towards Pein.

"Hm.." Pein muttered before he stood up. He held his hand out to Kisame who took it and was pulled up by Pein. Kisame smirked at Pein, who only nodded at him, a small upward slant on his lips showing his amusement.

"This is good…" Pein went back to his seat and the shadows cloaked him once more. Kisame knew his leadership was now breaking through his emotional crack. "This stays between the three of us." Pein said, now turning around to gaze out the window that was behind his desk. He sighed whenever he noticed the very large crack in the seemingly unbreakable glass. "If the boy protects Sakura-chan, then he shall pass. Whenever he gets here, he will have some other types of exams—mostly fighting for his life against some of the other members." He smirked slightly. "If he _doesn't_ protect Sakura-chan, and she gets hurt…well…let's just say he won't be a _potential_ member anymore. He'll be too cold in the ground to even think of a membership with the infamous Akatsuki." Kisame and Zetsu grinned at their merciless leader.

"Zetsu, return to Sakura. She may need you. If she is ever in dire need of help and there's no one…well…" he gave Zetsu a smirk that seemed twisted slightly, his eyes glowing that same demonic gray when the lightning flashed at the perfect time, making his smirk seem demonic.

_"You may feast on the prey."_

**-With Sakura; 9:00 P.M.-**

The night was going fairly well, if Sakura could say so herself.

The hour before Team 7 and Team Hebi had gone to confront Team Nendo, or the Rock Team, they had decided on a schedule for the night and the following day.

That night, Hebi's team would remain awake throughout the night, each one taking a shift. Hebi had last shift, since she claimed that she needed her beauty sleep, even though everyone knew she was either lying or just kidding around.

In the morning, Team Nendo would be sent off to look for food and scrolls, while the other two stayed before to get more organized. They would be getting rid of any traces of themselves on the area around them. Kori(Sasuke) and Kumo would be going around the camp site to release all of the traps and clean up around the area. They would bring any scrolls they find back. Hopefully they wouldn't find anyone though. With the kind of traps Team Hebi set up…

Team Nendo would go out for three hours, then they would come back. Team 7 and Team Hebi would be loitering in the area, capturing anyone who came into their senses and just hanging out.

…

Sadly, the night didn't go as planned. At least not after midnight, when everyone went to sleep.

When it came to be Hebi's turn to take guard, she killed Kumo and Buki. Why? Because she didn't need them anymore. They were _expendable._

When everyone woke up, they'd be surrounded in blood, two bodies torn to pieces in front of their tent.

When Sakura woke up the next morning, after having been knocked unconscious by a pinch to her pressure points on her neck, although she had no idea when that happened, she just felt the symptoms of it, she immediately looked around for Hebi, since they were her teammates.

She only came to one result: Hebi killed her teammates, and was very likely to kill them next.

"Hey, Nendo, Pauda, Oheina, Aji, Kori! Wake up! Now!" Sakura snapped, jostling each boy as she called to them.

"W-What is it, Sakura?" Sasuke mumbled in his sleep before turning over.

"Sasuke.." Sakura hissed into his ear "I know you love sleep, but you have to get up. Either that, or I will leave you here with the rest of them for Hebi to slaughter."

Sasuke jerked up and gaped at her.

"W-What? Hebi will-"

Sakura nodded towards the outside and Sasuke jerked up and ran outside, only to nearly get sick at the sight.

She went over to Team Nendo's tent and almost started to kick their tent, only to find that the inside of the tent was covered in blood as well. She almost screamed. Her knees weakened but she knew she had to be strong for her team. She gulped before moving closer to the tent, holding in her own vomit.

She noticed only two bodies inside the tent, though. She also noticed a trail of bloody footprints leading to the edge of the field, meaning one of the teammates wondered off.

"Oh no.." Sasuke stopped behind her to look at the damage as well. "I gotta say. Those poor kids." Sasuke muttered before he turned and went to get Naruto up.

Sakura's mind instantly went into overdrive. She noticed a _very_ thin layer of chakra on the blood trails.

She reached down and touched the chakra, only to be surged with a very malevolent chakra and a flash of a strong Genjutsu, showing Nendo with Pouda and Oheina leaving the camp, although she knew only Deidara really left.

"Guys, Nendo left." Sakura said once she walked over to the shell-shocked Naruto. She covered his eyes with one hand and sighed.

"We've been double crossed."

Right after she spoke those words, something barreled towards Team 7, causing them to jump. Since Sakura was closest to Naruto, she grasped onto his jacket and pulled him with her. Whenever they landed, the team was in a bush. Naruto was sitting on his legs, unmoving and, frankly, uncaring. Sakura and Sasuke were forced to move and leave him, although Sakura made a clone that held onto him until he woke up. When he'd wake up, the clone would poof out into existence.

"What's wrong with him, Sakura?" Sasuke asked Sakura who shook her head sadly.

"I had a feeling this would happen." She sighed at his confused expression, but she opted to ignore him, lest she fall from the branches she was running across.

"Sakura, what do you mean?" Sasuke asked coldly, jarring Sakura from her dazed episode. She tossed a glare his way, which he caught and threw back at her, showing her his own red-eyed glare.

"I have a hard time trusting people, especially since I don't have my memories." Sasuke eyed her wearily. "Hebi wasn't really Hebi. I secretly set my chakra out and whatever that Genjutsu is around her face, the chakra inside of the Genjutsu was horrifying. I'm afraid we're facing off against someone strong, Sasuke." She caught Sasuke eyes, hers showing her worry and his showing his ice and arrogance.

"Che."

Sakura glared but didn't have time to reply as they were suddenly hit with this large chakra, forcing them to the ground in front of another Shinobi—Hebi.

"H-Hebi…" Sakura murmured before Hebi smirked and licked her lips.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, you really don't remember me, do you?" Hebi laughed at her confused face. "Ah, I see, so _he_ blocked your memory."

"W-Wha-" Sakura started, but was cut off by Hebi.

"He also blocked your Kekkei Genkei, huh." Hebi smirked darkly, a flash of sharp teeth glinting in the rare spot of sunlight. Sakura gulped. "Your body is making up for the loss of that blood trait. But none the less. I'm sure he'll come for you sooner or later…"

"W-Who're you talking about?" Sakura stuttered, fear suddenly overtaking her.

"Nevermind now. Now, _**die!**_" Hebi pulled down her bottom eye lid, interlacing Sakura and Sasuke into one of the strongest Genjutsu known. The two kids had been on their knees and now they laid down, their knees to their sides as they gaped out at the sky.

In the Genjutsu, horrible things were happening to Sakura and Sasuke. Hebi was causing them the worst feeling ever by giving them the one thing no one wanted to see—their own death.

Hebi chuckled darkly as he got ready to stretch his neck whenever Sasuke slowly reached into his kunai pouch, only to stab himself in the leg with his kunai.

Hebi snickered again. "Already trying to kill yourself, Sasuke-chan? Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Before Hebi could head towards Sasuke to get rid of the kunai, Sasuke stabbed Sakura, jarring her from her own Genjutsu with a gasp.

"Che." Hebi muttered before he stepped back a few paces, to give the kids room to get up.

"S-Showing some chivalry now, are you?"

Sakura was now standing up, leaning on an also panting Sasuke. Hebi narrowed her eyes before she smirked.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, you have most of your strength, I see?" Hebi purred out, wondering what the children would do next.

Suddenly, Sasuke leapt from Sakura's grasp to Hebi, slashing at her with a kunai.

Sakura bit her bottom lip before using a Konoha signal system to tell Sasuke that she was going to Naruto, who glanced at her, showing that he understood. He then turned to Hebi, who smirked playfully, before engaging the said-freak-man in combat.

Sakura then started to leap to the area where her clone had disappeared at.

Once she arrived at said place, she sighed. _Great. I'm lost._

* * *

><p>"Deidara?" Itachi called softly, breaking the Genjutsu that Deidara was in.<p>

Deidara shook with the lapse of the Genjutsu, the forest floor scratching into his back. He rolled over and groaned, wishing he could get back to sleep.

Itachi hummed softly, wondering why he was sleeping on the forest floor. His eyes narrowed as his Sharingan eyes caught sight of a broken Genjutsu in the chakra pathways of Deidara's eyes. _Hm..it must have put him to sleep once it's broken…_

Itachi sighed before he kicked the boy lightly. Deidara tensed but otherwise, was silent. He sighed once more and kicked the boy harder. This time, Deidara stirred and began to slowly raise up.

Whenever he opened his eyes to look around and smack his mouth a few times, he froze when he caught sight of the man above him.

"Erm…hello." Deidara said softly, almost whimpering at the frightening man. His eyes were shadowed and parts of his bangs fell down around his face.

"Deidara. Where are you supposed to be?" Itachi asked, his teeth grinding together in slight anger.

"Uhm…w-with Sakura?"

"Exactly. And why are you not there?"

Deidara was silent as he thought about this.

_I wake up to see Itachi glaring down at me…where am I supposed to be? With Sakura, I think, but she's fine…right?_

Apparently, just to spite his thoughts, he heard a female scream from the side of them. Their heads whipped to the female's direction before they looked to each other.

"Was that…"

Itachi was silent for a minute before he shook his head.

"Surely that wasn't Sakura…" Itachi muttered softly before he turned back towards Deidara.

"Find Sakura and protect her, Deidara." Then, Itachi grabbed Deidara's arm and yanked him up to his height, their eyes meeting. Itachi's eyes flashed dangerously. "If you do not protect her, Deidara…" His grip tightened viciously, making Deidara tense up and his face scrunch up. "I will personally see to your demise."

Itachi then dropped Deidara before rubbing his hands together, shooing off the invisible dust from his hands.

Deidara quickly stood up and began to walk away from Itachi, only to be stopped by a slight rustling in the bushes to his right. From a quick glance, he knew that Itachi was now staring at the bushes, his eyes seemingly narrower than normal…

"Itachi!" A female voice called out softly, before a wisp of pink dashed towards the called-for man.

Itachi's eyes slightly widened whenever the pink female latched onto his waist. Deidara had a look on his face that asked 'what-the-fuck-is-this?'

"You two..know each other?" Deidara asked nervously, causing Itachi to toss a glare at him before he looked down again.

Sakura looked at Deidara and her eyes widened. She took a few steps away from Itachi and gulped.

"Uh. Hi, Nendo…"

**-Five minutes earlier; Sakura's POV: Third Person Limited-**

_Damn it, I'm lost. There's a freaky woman-man thing on the loose and I have to find Naruto…Damn damn damn._ Sakura cursed inwardly, panicking at all the things she had to do before anyone got hurt.

In her inner mind, she was crying and panicking. On the outside, her eye showed her worry, and her lips were tilted downward, showing her unease. Every once in a while, she would bite her lip in thought before she let go, suddenly realizing what she was doing.

"Damn it!" Sakura cursed softly before suddenly she heard some muttered voices to her left. She headed towards the voices cautiously, wondering if they had a scroll. Not like she was going to take it though. Pssh. Nah…

Ok, so maybe. Even in all this stress, she was still thinking about getting more scrolls._ So sue me! …Wait, no, don't sue me._

She slowly edged over into the bushes, only to see her friend Itachi.

She couldn't see anyone in the small clearing, thanks to a tree in her way. She knew he was talking to someone, but she didn't know who…

She moved forward, causing the bushes to rustle slightly. Itachi's head snapped to her direction and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Suddenly, at the sight of him, she felt her true fear begin to rise. Tears began to spring to her eyes and suddenly, she was running towards the shocked Itachi.

"Itachi!" She called, a tear running down her face. Thankfully, no one noticed the tear. Except for Itachi, that is.

She gripped him around the waist as she tried to hold in her tears.

Suddenly, she looked to the other one in the clearing. Whenever she did, she backed up from Itachi and gaped at Nendo.

"Uh. Hi, Nendo…"

* * *

><p>"Oh Sasuke-kun" Hebi purred out as she tried to find the, now, hiding boy. She was twisting around a tree, her body stretching at frightening lengths.<p>

Sasuke held a mirror around the tree he was on, which was a few trees away from the tree Hebi was currently on. The mirror showed parts of Hebi that were stretched beyond belief. Sasuke gaped at the still-stretching body of Hebi when suddenly…

"Hello Sasuke-kun." Hebi's voice purred out from behind Sasuke. Sasuke tensed up and jumped away, dropping the mirror which fell to the earth with a sickening crack. Hebi tilted her head as her head stayed in place, but her body seemed to de-stretch back to the position of the head. Once her body was on the branch, she cracked her neck once, only to smile at the shocked Sasuke.

_Oh dear god._ Sasuke thought to himself, suddenly thinking of his pink-haired teammate and wondering if she was alright. His fists clinched at the thought of her getting hurt.

Before he could get fully distracted, though, Hebi finally jumped at him, signifying that Sasuke was now going to have to out smart him.

Sasuke's grip tightened on his wire as he slung it onto the limbs above him to make a sort of swing. With this "swing of wire" he swung around the current tree he was on and, as he swung from tree to tree on this make-shift swing, went the opposite direction that Sakura had went.

_Hopefully this will distract him enough that he won't bother you, Sakura-chan…_

* * *

><p>Sakura's mouth had a sudden dry feeling to it as she stared at Deidara in shock.<p>

"Uh…hi, Kan-chan.." Deidara murmured softly before he rubbed the back of of head awkwardly.

"How do you know Itachi?" Sakura asked Deidara softly, blinking at him in slight confusion.

_So, she's not the cold type like I thought she was…_

"Well…long story short…"

Itachi broke in before Deidara could, unknowingly, give something away.

"I was looking for you, Sakura, and I came upon him."

Sakura turned around and blinked at Itachi, a hand on her hip. Suddenly, she smirked, her tongue messing with the lip ring she has as a labret.

"Oh really now, Itachi?" Sakura slightly purred, which made her tense suddenly. She reframed from saying anything until after Itachi explained himself.

He cleared his throat and Deidara chuckled at him, but stopped chuckling once a kunai flew past his head, scratching his cheek. Courtesy of the pink-haired girl in front of him. He gulped and nodded his head, vowing to not talk again. Itachi threw him a smirk before he looked back to the curious Sakura, who had an eye brow raised at him now.

"I am merely observing your progress." Itachi said softly, knowing she heard him. She looked at him for a minute longer before she nodded and smiled. She then turned to Deidara.

"Nendo, you're going to help me." She said before she stepped up to him, her eyes level with his collor bone.

"Oh? With what?" He breathed out softly, secretly liking the closeness of the kunoichi. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the pair.

"We have to find my blonde headed teammate. Then we have to go find my other teammate." Her eyes then flashed up to his, showing him the mere amount of panic, fear, and sorrow buried in her eyes. "I cannot lose someone else close to me."

Itachi tensed at her last sentence, but otherwise, he drifted off into the shadows to continue watching the girl.

Sakura didn't even remember that Itachi had been there. She just jumped away with Deidara, who hardly tossed a glance at the cold-faced Uchiha who was in the shadows, chasing after them as silently as the devil himself.

**-With Naruto-**

His breathe came out in huffs and sudden squeals as he ran, twisted, and jumped away from the gigantic snake that was running after him.

"Oh god, help me!" he huffed out, before jumping to the left to dodge the snake's hungry mouth again, only this time, his foot slipped and he bonked his head on the ground. He groaned and whenever he opened his eyes after having passed out for a few seconds, he was staring into the mouth of the snake. The snake used his tongue to wrap around his squirming body before he finally swallowed the screaming boy.

"URAAGGHHH!" he screamed before he quieted down, to concentrate on not dying. That, and his plans on escaping.

Suddenly, he got the thought of a balloon and how whenever you put too much air into it, it'll bust.

_That's it….!_ He thought to himself before closing his eyes and curling himself into the smallest ball he could, making himself nearly slip from the foot hold he got. He felt the snake begin to slither away, but when he started his jutsu, the snake stopped, wondering what that weird feeling in his gut was...

"Kagebushin no jutsu!" He bellowed, creating quite a few clones of himself. When he found he needed more clones, he just made more and more until the snake finally exploded, the snakes guts slung all around the forest floor.

"Yadda!" He yelled triumphantly, before standing on the dead snakes head and bellowing to the skies, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and you won't hold me down!"

* * *

><p>"Naruto-kun!" Sakura exclaimed before hugging him tightly, forgetting about Deidara. A tear dribbled out of her eye and Naruto pushed her back slightly, rubbed the tear away, and smiled at her.<p>

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. We'll get through this." Then he looked at Deidara. "So, since you apparently know our names, what's your real one?"

Sakura bonked Naruto on the head but Deidara laughed, which stopped her from beating him further.

"I'm Deidara, un. Nice to meet you." Deidara said, smiling. He reached his hand out and Naruto looked at it for a minute before grasping it and smiling widely at the other blonde, which resulted in both blondes smiling hugely at each other.

Sakura finally realized why they were there. "Sasuke!" She exclaimed suddenly, jolting the two blondes from their discussion over their favorite foods.

Naruto looked at Sakura confused while Deidara tilted his head at the girl.

"H-Hebi attacked Sasuke and I, we have to go help him!" Sakura said startled, before concentrating on her senses.

"What happened, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She tensed up and then turned around to face the direction she sensed Sasuke.

"I'll tell you later, Naruto-kun. Right now, we have to go help Sasuke." Sakura then jumped off, causing Naruto and Deidara to look at each other, nod, then follow after her, catching up with her quickly.

* * *

><p>When they got to the site where Sakura had split up with Sasuke, she inhaled sharply.<p>

The destruction was horrible. There were gashes in the trees around them and some trees were snapped in half. Dead snakes littered the floor, some with blood around their fangs.

Sakura's eyes widened at the blood around the snake's mouth.

_He seems to have moved the opposite direction I was…_ Sakura thought softly, wondering if she should look deeper into that or not. She decided to leave that for another day and followed the trail.

The boys behind her jumped with her, the three of them forming a triangle. Sakura was at the top of the formation, knowing where to go.

"Now, when we get there, Deidara, you'll be our back-up. If all of us are down and we can't fight, but Hebi keeps coming for us…then you pick us up and get us out of there. Fast." Sakura's eyes flashed over to Deidara, who nodded. Naruto looked over to Deidara and pounded his fist with his, grinning widely.

"Trust me, you won't have to get me. I'll never go down, believe it!"

* * *

><p>"Ah, Sasuke-kun, here comes your friends." Hebi purred out to Sasuke, who tensed up since Hebi was so close. <em>Again.<em>

_My god, can she just NOT stay away from me! What a freak!_

Sasuke jumped away and blew a large fireball at her, not even bothering to call out the jutsu's name.

She cackled evilly and slid away, not even being burnt.

A smirk made it's way to Sasuke's face.

"Got you." He whispered to himself, pulling the wires that were currently wrapped around his fingers. Wires tightened around the tree, smashing Hebi against it. The wires had fallen from the branches, having cut them off whenever Sasuke twitched one of his fingers, and were designed to wrap around Hebi and the tree so whenever Sasuke made the wires fall down and then tighten around the "duo," Hebi was smashed against the tree, the wires biting into her skin and the tree's own flesh.

He smirked at her horrified expression as he pulled as much chakra as he could to his windpipe, preparing for another fireball. He did the handsigns and then made a 'o' around his mouth with his index and thumb. Through this thumb, which he had also built chakra into, he blew one of the largest fireballs he ever had. He smirked once he cut off the chakra flow, causing the fireball to fly through the air towards it's target: Hebi.

Hebi's horror stricken face was covered by the fireball, which allowed Hebi to smirk evilly before sliding, easily, through the tree—_through the tree—_ as if it wasn't even there. The fireball hit the tree and split right down the middle, causing a waterfall of flames to form around the tree. Hebi backed up from the tree, the intense heat almost burning her face off.

She wanted to cackle but the element of surprise is always grand. She slid to the ground and right under Sasuke, where she leapt up, silently, and wrapped her arms around the now slightly trembling boy.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun"

"Get your hands off of my teammate!" Naruto yelled, charging towards Hebi. Hebi jumped off the tree limb and swung to be a tree away from them, a frown placed upon her lips. Naruto stood beside the shock-ridden Sasuke, a smirk on his lips.

Sakura appeared to Sasuke's left, a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke glanced at Sakura to see her angered face.

"_Snake"_ She hissed out, surprising Hebi. Hebi only laughed at her, though, before she hissed in sick delight.

"Yes, I guess I am, huh." Hebi purred before her neck suddenly stretched out. Team 7 tensed and Hebi's head came closer. Sakura threw a kunai into Hebi's face, causing blood to splatter on them, seeing as how close Hebi was to them. The neck then poofed off, making Team 7's eyes widened in shock.

"Arrgghhh!" Sasuke yelled, Hebi latched onto his neck.

"Wha-Sasuke, no!" Sakura yelled before she stabbed Hebi in the neck. He hissed at her but slunk off and all of Hebi sunk into the tree that they were standing on.

Sasuke fell to the ground, clutching at his neck and screaming in pure agony.

"S-Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, holding him against her. Naruto looked at him jealous for a moment before he looked to the right, having heard something. His eyes glowed a soft red as he sniffed the air, smelling Hebi.

Sakura looked up startled at Naruto whenever he suddenly darted off. Sakura watched, as if in slow motion, a hand rush towards Naruto. Naruto snarled and Sakura watched the hand slide up Naruto's shirt—which she openly gaped at—and then press on his stomach. Sakura gaped even more whenever Naruto suddenly gave off a roar of pain as the fingers on the snake-like hand glowed purple.

All of that happened in a time span of three seconds. The last, third, second was of Naruto falling until he hit a low branch.

Sakura almost let out a scream, but she held it in. Deidara suddenly swooped down on a semi-large clay bird. He spun the bird right over Naruto, grabbing Naruto as the bird was upside down above the blonde. When Deidara had a grip of Naruto, he flipped the bird back over and then directed his bird over to the branch Sakura was on.

Sakura's eyes widened as tears spewed from her eyes. Deidara didn't stop for a second as he held down a hand for her.

"Come on, Sakura-chan. I'll get you three somewhere safe." He said softly, waiting patiently for Sakura's nod. She finally gave him the ok and let go of Sasuke's head, letting it rest softly on the bark of the tree. Deidara picked up the boy before climbing onto the bird and setting Sasuke beside Naruto.

Sakura stepped up to the large bird, before looking up at Deidara who was grinning down at her.

"Need some help, yeah?" He asked with a mischievous look in his eyes. Sakura grinned and gripped the hand he held down for her.

"Thank you, Deidara-san." Sakura replied softly before going to sit between her boys. The tears dried up as she hoped that Deidara could save them.

On the way, as the two nin looked around, looking for a suitable place to hide, Deidara decided to gloat.

"Ya' know, this isn't the largest bird I can make, yeah." He said, tossing the words like an item back at Sakura.

"Oh? I thought this one was pretty large."

Deidara sent her a smirk.

"I can make 'em bigger, yeah."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly before she thought about it for a moment. _A larger bird would be more protection, but then again, if we had a bigger bird, then we'd have to fly above the trees, which would give away our position.._

"Ahh, I see now." Sakura's eyes gleamed before she made a clone to be with her teammates. While her clone held down her teammates, she slowly crawled to be beside Deidara, so she could have a better view of the forest. Sakura glanced back at her teammates, suddenly remembering something.

"How come you aren't being emotional?" Sakura asked Deidara softly, resulting in him looking at her, his nose scrunched up and a small pout set upon his lips.

"Why would I be emotional, yeah?"

Sakura looked oddly at him for a minute.

"Uhm. Your teammates are dead."

Deidara stiffened slightly before he let out a small chuckle, slightly shocking Sakura.

"Yeah, I know. I figured it out after Ita-" He glanced behind him at the boys, and deciding they were both asleep, continued. "-after Itachi broke the Genjutsu on me." Deidara grumbled under his breathe, "I need to find a way to see through all Genjutsu…" Deidara pouted and Sakura tilted her head.

"So, why aren't you emotional?"

Deidara smirked at her.

"Iwa isn't like Konoha, Sakura-chan." Sakura blinked in slight confusion. "Our teammates are just that. Teammates. They don't become our friends. We don't care about each other. We just carry out our mission and whoever dies dies and whoever lives lives." He shrugged. "At least, that's how we're taught in the Academy."

Sakura became silent after that. "I wouldn't want to go to Iwa, then…"

Deidara let loose a barking laugh before he suddenly dipped his bird, becoming closer to the ground as he had to weave through even thicker trees. Sakura looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Found it." He muttered to himself before stopping in a field-like area. He helped Sakura get the two boys off before he helped her to slide off of the tail, making her smile slightly.

"How're you going to get rid of it?" Sakura asked Deidara curiously, after the two of them finished putting the boys under the tree. The two were now standing beside the bird, Sakura wondering what Deidara was going to do with it, and Deidara just admiring his work.

"Oh, the bird, you mean, yeah?" Deidara asked softly, staring at his bird in wondrous awe.

Sakura eyed his expression critically. "Yes, Deidara-san. The bird."

He was silent for a minute before he sighed and reached towards the bird. She tensed up whenever he softly caressed the bird. Her eyes widened slightly whenever the bird seemed to be…to be _shrinking._

"What…" She mumbled softly, before suddenly Deidara grinned devilishly. She blinked at his expression before the, now, small bird flew into the bushes.

"Art…" Deidara's eyes widened slightly in awe before they narrowed in an observant manner. "is a **Bang!**" Deidara bellowed, muttering the word "kasu!" right after he had said bang. Sakura heard a small explosion in the bushes and she gaped for a moment as sparks flew from the bushes, mixed with something red…something like…

_Blood?_

Deidara laughed triumphantly, inwardly cheering that he got to kill a squirrel. Leave it to the Ino-look alike to feel gleeful over doing something like killing a squirrel, via bomb. That poor squirrel…

Sakura shook her head before she walked back under the massive tree roots. Over in the corner of the tree was, conveniently, what looked like a trough. She smirked before she began the hand signs for a water jutsu. She murmured the jutsu name under her breathe before a small stream of water flew from her mouth to the make-shift trough. Deidara raised an eyebrow at her whenever she eyed Sasuke and Naruto's clothes for a minute.

Sakura remained silent for a few moments more. "Well..They'll forgive me. Eventually." She then walked over to them, and began to rip off wide strips of their clothing, the strips coming from their shirt, jacket (in Naruto's case) and shorts/pants. Deidara gaped at her.

"What? It's for the fevers…" she murmured softly before she took one of the bandages off of her arm and took the current henge off of it. Deidara tilted his head as he watched her put _another_ henge on the scroll, now making it look like a string. The string was thin but would act as a sort of clothes hanger for the strips of cloth.

Deidara hummed softly, skeptical, but only in a teasing way. Sakura doubled the pieces of cloth so they were double as thick. She dipped them into the water before softly placing them onto her boy's foreheads. She had three other strips on the two foot string. All five strips of cloth were about a foot long, which made Sakura have to fold them to be only around six inches.

"I'm going to go scout around. I'll set up some traps before I leave." Deidara called softly before he began observing the area.

Sakura tilted her head, a small piece of fear leaking into her eyes. "You…you aren't going to stay?" She asked, cursing her voice for cracking at the end. Deidara stopped from his walking and turned to her.

His eyes showed only sorrow.

"Sakura, I'm the only one left on my team. In order to pass this exam, you had to have all three of your teammates." Sakura gaped at him, wondering what she would do if she lost her teammates. "I'll do what I can, but I need to escape the forest as soon as possible. I'll help you as long as possible, but it's best now for me to…" He looked away and looked up into the bright sky. "It's best for me to let things run naturally." He looked back to her with a light smirk on his lips.

"You'll see me again, though. Don't you worry." He winked at her and once she blinked, he was gone.

She gaped for a moment before she shook her head and stood up, wanting to get some of her anxiety out. Stood at the entrance to the roots and threw out chakra nets along the forest floor for a half mile around her, and then a chakra net at a vertical angle ten feet from the actual clearing. The vertical circle spanned all around the clearing, so she would be alerted if anyone stepped through her chakra net.

A few hours of her checking up on their fevers and such. A few hours of anxiety of their awakening and of any attacks. She sighed softly before pulling out a scroll from her weapon pouch. It was only about as long as her pinky but it was as thick as her thumb.

She unrolled it and smiled softly at all the seals she had on there.

She had seals for more weapons, for camping equipment, for food, and entertainment. She grinned as she remembered how Anko had taught her the seals and such for situations such as these. She was ready for just about anything. Well, _almost_ anything. Nothing could even hope to prepare her for what was about to strike.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Well…I SAID that I was going to put all of Exam 2 and Exam 3 in this chapter, buuut…I figured I'd go ahead and give you guys a chapter. You guys know what's coming up next, riiiight? Lawl. Or do you? -wiggles eyebrows- **

**1) So…how is everyone? I'm talking to my daddeh, so I'm not very talkative today. Sorry for those of you who count on mah amusement-ness (not even a word, but oh well…) to get through the day.**

**2) I STILL LOVE YOU ALL. 3 Trust me, I haven't forgot about you guys. I'm kind of wondering how I'm going to kind of turn this more away from canon…-strokes invisible beard in thought- Hmmm….**

**3) I do not own Naruto!~ I totally wish I did, sorta, but oh well…**

**4) Oh mah gawd. I just realized that in Kitsune-no-Sakura At Your Service! I acted like I hated Itachi. D= Which, I guess I kinda did, but still…D= I can't believe I did that. I couldn't do it now…**

**5) So, who else's views of Madara have changed DRASTICALLY? Mine have. Whew! I don't know whether to think of him as the badass Uchiha who has still retained his hotness since he died at a relatively young age, or whether to think he should've stayed dead…meh. I'll go with the first one…**

**6) WHO THE HELL IS TOBI! I WANNA KNOW GOD DAMN IT. STOP DRAGGING HIM AWAY! D= we deserve to know who Tobi is! …and where'd Ita-chan go? I don't remember what happened to him-WHERE'D HE GO? D=**

**7) So, uh…anyone else just get off of school because their school was all like "OH MAH GAWD, SNOW WARNING." ….It's almost five thirty, and we've had no snow. At all. In fact, I've looked at radars. There's not a spec of snow for miles. "Oh, there's some snow in Oklahoma, oh wait, THAT'S NOT ARKANSAS." …I don't understand why we got out. -insert angry/confused face- I don't understand…D=**

**8) Grrr, my class ring came in Friday! The day I wasn't there! D= So now I have to find out HOW to get my bloody ring…bah.**

**9) I know for a fact that if I had kept this chapter going…the word count would've been at least 10k. -looks slightly amused- So, I guess I'll stick to having it at around 8k words…Yay!~**

**10) Is there anything REALLY important for me to say…hm…well, as you can tell, I obviously don't have these chapters written ahead of time. My school is kind of stressing me out, I am still trying to get over being sick (pharyngitus or whatever. If anyone can correct my spelling, please do. No kidding.), and I'm kinda not in the mood for writing…-rubs temples then sulks in emo corner- I don't know how this is going to play out…**

**11) I'll try to update asap, but it'll probably be a few weeks…do hold out for me, please? I promise I won't die. X3 so you don't have to worry about that.**

**Have a good night people, I lurve you all, good NIGHT!**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	8. The Cut

_Chapter 08: The Cut_

Sakura cursed as she dodged the sudden kunai that was thrown her way. She was bouncing off of trees and such, only to stop on a tree, look at her opponents, then bounce away with another curse.

_I may have extra senses, but obviously, my fighting skills need some work…_

Suddenly she tilted her head, a kunai that was aimed at her barely missed her cheek. Her dark, emerald eyes glared out at the three nin in front of her.

"Look, she's running scared of us!" One boy said. He seemed to be the more cockier of the two males—he also had the less muscle.

"Shut up, Zaku!" The other male snarled towards his teammate, only to be flipped off. He rolled his eyes.

"Che, she's so weak. Why're we fighting her, Dosu?" the only female asked, sneering at Sakura who only ignored her as she tried to think of how to win this.

She had a very limited amount of Ninjutsu…her taijutsu wasn't that good, even though she was fast….perhaps she could use that speed to her advantage?

Her Genjutsu…well, she didn't have good Genjutsu, but she could try it at least…

_It never hurts to try anyway._

* * *

><p>Well, the Genjutsu hadn't worked.<p>

In fact, it seemed to backfire. The sound-nin only got angrier.

_Lovely._

Sakura flipped backwards, dodging Kin's punches and kicks. Sakura continued to do her aerobatics; she was so consumed in what she was doing, in fact, that she missed the "oshit" faces of Zaku and Dosu.

On the next back flip of Sakura's, she was caught in midair by…

…sand?

Sakura's mouth opened in an 'o' as she was dragged down beside the red-haired man.

His lips were tightly held together, his eyes glaring blankly at the three ninja's in front of him.

Dosu cursed to himself. _We were only told information about few people—_Dosu closed his eyes and sighed. _Sadly, this person was one of them._

Gaara glared at the three ninja, causing two of them to tense up. "This girl is my prey. You are not to harm her."

"Hey Brat, that's _our_ prey, not yours." Kin snarled, holding onto her kunai harder.

Dosu, in a sudden fit of anger—or was it fear?— grabbed onto Kin's hair and yanked her back. She let a yip fall from her mouth. This action of Dosu caused a massive argument between the team.

In the midst of their argument—in which all three teammates were now arguing—Gaara looked at Sakura with a cool look in his eyes. Sakura was still sweatdropping at what he'd said earlier.

_So he only saved me so he could kill me, huh?_

"I thought you would have been able to take them." Gaara deadpanned, eyeing the black eye and the faint trail of blood under her nose and down the side of her mouth.

She sighed and rubbed the back of her head softly.

"Yeah, I thought so to." Sakura grumbled to herself, aware of Gaara's scrutiny.

"Why were you not able to take them?" Gaara asked, looking towards the quarreling team.

Sakura was silent for a moment before she looked towards the tree. Gaara followed her glance and, although he didn't show it usually, he understood. Gaara made a sound in the back of the throat that almost sounded like "oh."

Sakura then glanced at Gaara. "Where's your other two teammates?"

This time, it was Gaara who was silent for a few moments. "They are my siblings." Gaara admitted slowly, making Sakura blink at him in slight confusion.

"They allowed you to be teamed with your teammates?"

Gaara remained silent at that question. Instead, he opted to answer her first question. "They do not know I am here." Gaara once again admitted, although this time, Sakura saw the slight downward pitch of his eyebrows, showing his slight sadness.

_Sadness for what,_ Sakura thought softly _I may never know._

Finally, the quarreling team ceased.

Gaara's head suddenly whipped towards the tree Sakura's teammates were under. There, he sensed a very malevolent chakra beginning to swirl.

Gaara nodded towards Sakura. "Your teammates are beginning to wake up. I shall take my leave now."

Sakura nodded and smiled at Gaara, thanking him. She turned back around, only to hear a swirling sound. She didn't have to glance behind her to know that Gaara had fled the scene.

Sasuke slowly stood up, the purple chakra swirling around him. He slowly stepped out from underneath the tree, and Dosu's face cracked into an even larger "OSHIT" face.

Sasuke glanced her way before pointing at her. "Who caused you harm, Sakura?"

Sasuke's eyes showed the sudden anger and deep sorrow and-and..

Well, something else. Something Sakura didn't understand.

* * *

><p>Pein clinched his fist, unconsciously smashing the pen in his hand. Konan eyed the pen in his hand and felt deep sorrow for the inanimate object.<p>

_That pen will never be the same…_

Pein's thoughts were elsewhere, though.

_That damn Uchiha has fallen for _my_ little sister…_

Pein clinched his teeth together harder.

_Maybe all of them have._

* * *

><p>Back with Sakura, Sasuke finally got his answer.<p>

"It was me, dipshit. What're you gonna do 'bout it?" Zaku said loudly, causing Sasuke's head to whip towards him.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Silence." Sasuke said harshly, which, strangely, made Zaku shut up.

_W-Why won't my body move? Damn it!_

Zaku's finger twitched but that was the extent of his ability to move.

Dosu eyed Zaku, wondering why his teammate wasn't moving.

Kin sneered at Sasuke, throwing a kunai at him. Sasuke merely zoomed to the side, glaring at Kin.

Kin's eyes widened fearfully as he suddenly began zigzagging towards her. She could hardly keep up with him, although he seemed to be playing with her.

_T-The only reason why I can even see him is…is because he _wants_ me to see him _kill_ me!_

Kin's eyes widened in shock before they rolled into the back of her head. In the split second of Kin falling, two things happened. The first thing to happen was that Dosu caught her. The second thing was that Sasuke's kunai clashed with Dosu's sound-emitter, causing the metal to clang loudly. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise, he wasn't affected by it.

"Sasuke-sama, we were sent here to only test you." Dosu muttered to the boy, making Sasuke's eyebrows raise in question.

"Oh really? Then what was the point of harming _my_ teammates?" Sasuke snarled, his Sharingan turned on—flaring.

Dosu winced. "We saw her as a nuisance in our testing, so…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and suddenly he whipped away from Dosu, building up chakra—quickly—for a fire Ninjutsu.

Before he could even begin the handsigns for the jutsu, he felt a hand on his shoulder. In his adrenaline high mind, his head whipped around, only for him to see his female teammate.

His eyes unconsciously narrowed as he let her name slip from his lips.

"_Sakura."_

Dosu cursed in his mind. _Shit, he's in love with the girl and we nearly killed her!_

Zaku, strangely, was still frozen in his spot. His thoughts mirrored his fellow teammate's thoughts.

Sakura smiled softly at Sasuke, before turning him around by pulling on his shoulder. He easily complied, seeing as she seemed to be the music that calmed his inner beast. She rested a soft hand onto his cheek, which he seemed to lightly push into with closed eyes.

If Sakura hadn't been as afraid as she was at that second, she would have thought that he was a cat—just without the purring.

Sakura stepped closer to Sasuke, softly caressing his cheek.

Sasuke opened his eyes slightly, revealing his glazed onyx eyes.

"Are you..not afraid of me?" Sasuke muttered slightly, gazing into her eyes.

Sakura didn't answer, but she hoped he wouldn't look too deep into her eyes—if he did, he'd see her fear.

"A bit." Sakura admitted softly, making Sasuke mutter a soft apology.

"Sasuke, it's time to calm down." Sakura hummed softly, resting her palm on his cheek again, her fingers buried into his night-like hair.

Sasuke "hrmm'd" before he sighed softly, the curse marks receding from his body. The sound ninja took that moment as a cue—they fled. The moment the marks were all clear from his body, Sakura moved away from him, appearing beside Naruto under the tree. Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he blinked in confusion.

_Who was that?_ Sasuke blinked once more before thinking, _Her voice was…so soothing…so goddess like…_

Sasuke turned his head slightly, not seeing anyone. He turned back to the tree, only to see Sakura bunching her long hair into a ponytail.

"Sakura?" Sasuke called out, heading towards the tree. She seemed to tense for a split second—something he caught, surprisingly—before she continued to try to bunch all of her hair in a low pony tail.

"Yes, Sasuke?" She asked him, before using one hand to keep all of her hair in place while she moved her other hand further down her hair, before wrapping it around her fist.

Sasuke tilted his head at her.

"What happened?"

Sakura paused and looked at him, her eyes glazed over with sorrow.

_Sorrow over what?_ Sasuke wondered.

Sakura didn't answer but told him to come help her with something. He stood beside her and mentally asked her what she wanted.

"Take out a kunai and cut my hair, Sasuke."

Sasuke gaped at her.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if his new curse mark would have some sort of effect on his emotions. "Did I stutter, Sasuke?" Sakura asked him coldly, making him twitch once.

His twitch told her that he understood her. He slowly took out a kunai and held it fresh against the thumb side of her left fist.

"Are you sure, Sakura?" Sasuke asked her lowly, hoping she'd relinquish her request.

"Yes, Sasuke. Just do it." Sakura ordered, only adding "please" as an after thought.

Sasuke sighed and finally complied to her request.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Sakura sighed softly, fingering her freshly cut hair.<p>

She heard a soft groan and she looked down, startled.

Naruto tilted his head, his head almost falling off of her lap. She was on her knees, sitting on the calves of her legs, giving Naruto a slope to lean his head on.

Even though she didn't acknowledge it, she noticed Sasuke shooting Naruto jealous glances every once in a while. She felt a twist in her stomach, wondering what she was feeling.

She petted Naruto's head, whispering for him to wake up.

"Sakura." Sasuke called softly, looking towards the clearing. Sakura looked at him and tilted her head, letting him know that she heard him. "Don't tell the dobe what happened to me."

Sakura eyed Sasuke for a moment before she nodded and began walking to the clearing. She needed some air—away from her team. "Alright."

"S-Sakura-chan?" A strained voice called out, making Sakura whip around.

"Naruto!" She called out, before phasing to his side, making Sasuke tense and eye her oddly.

_How does she move so fast?_

"What happened?" Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, the wet piece of cloth falling onto his lap. He lifted the fabric up and looked at Sakura, wondering what it was.

Sakura cleared her throat. "You had a fever and a good way to bring down a fever is either a cold bath-" Naruto blushed lightly, thinking about how she could've given him a cold bath. Sakura shot Naruto a glare, taking the fabrics and putting them back up on the string. "-or using cold, wet wash clothes on your showing skin." Sakura finished.

Sakura shook out the cloths, trying to make them become dry faster. The dry cloths were put in a pile in the clearing. She would burn those once she was able to.

The only cloth that was still relatively wet was the one that had just fallen off of Naruto.

Sakura took that cloth off and began to shake it vigorously, making her look ridiculous, but she didn't mind. It had to be done.

When the cloth was dry—or, well, as dry as shaking it can get—she put it with the other cloths before taking the string down and taking the henge off of it. She scrunched her nose, wondering why she used a scroll as a string.

_Aren't I just the smartest cookie in the cookie jar?_

Sakura shook her head at the thought. Surprisingly, the scroll wasn't even wet. She smiled lightly and then turned it back into a roll of bandages. She carefully wrapped the bandages around her forearm and then turned to her boys.

"I hate to announce this, but we have a problem." Sakura cleared her throat, making the boys tilt their heads at her.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, a hand on Sasuke's shoulder so he could stand up straight. He was still slightly off balance.

Sakura looked away, off towards the distance at the tower they desperately needed to get to.

"Today's the fourth day."

The boys stared at her for a minute before they gaped.

"What? Shit!" Naruto yelled, hobbling towards Sakura. Sakura sighed and eyed his condition. She pouted and then went over to Naruto. Naruto watched her for a minute before his eyes widened whenever she picked him up. "W-What're you doing, S-Sakura-chan!"

Sakura sighed and nodded to Sasuke, who was slightly wide-eyed at Sakura as well.

"Come on. We have to get to the tower ASAP." Sakura then headed off towards the tower, Sasuke in tow. Naruto's eyes were comically wide as he hooked an arm around Sakura's throat, making her eyebrows twitch in annoyance. Her lip twitched in annoyance at Naruto's yell.

"S-Sakura-chaaaaan!"

* * *

><p>Sakura stopped at a trail. She looked at a tree to see five markings on it.<p>

"Really? God damn it!" Sakura yelled, letting go of Naruto. Naruto "oof"ed at Sakura dropping him and pouted up at her.

"Mou, Sakura-chan, is something wrong?"

Sakura eyed Naruto like he was some sort of idiot. She looked back at Sasuke to see the confused look on his face as well.

She pouted. _I thought it was just the sun that made this part of the forest extra bright. I won't underestimate something like this again…next time, I'm listening to my senses._

"We're in a Genjutsu." Sakura deadpanned, causing Naruto and Sasuke to pause. They looked around them and cursed as well.

Sakura put a hand on herself and muttered the release word, all the while fluctuating her chakra.

As a sudden though, and as if reacting on instinct, Sasuke and Naruto put a hand on her, fluctuating their chakra as well. Naruto, of course, had the least chakra control of the three, but he tried.

With the three combined, the three broke the Genjutsu—

_And just in time, to._ A voice whispered in Sakura's mind.

Sakura eyed her surroundings, seeing the mere magnitude of clones.

_Shit._ Sakura cursed mentally, wondering how they were going to get out of their mess.

"Look, brothers!" One of the clones said before gleefully laughing, causing all of that person's clones to laugh with it.

Team 7 winced, _all_ of them now wondering how they were going to get out of this mess.

"I wonder how many scrolls they have on them, ne, brothers?" Another "brother" asked, before him and his clones began to laugh, causing the laughter to stretch—possibly—for miles around them.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

"Go!" A male's voice called out, causing Sakura to whip her head towards the sound of the voice. There, she saw a rather angry and pissed off Deidara, riding a medium size bird.

Sakura smiled at him "Thanks!" she called out, before pulled on her teammates hands, racing towards the tower. On their way there, they got caught in a few traps, but before anyone could get hurt, either Sakura or Sasuke would get them out—if Sakura was in trouble, Sasuke would get her and vice versa.

Finally, they made it to the tower.

"BEDS!" Naruto yelled before plopping onto the cot. Sakura rolled her eyes before she glanced towards the door.

"I'm not feeling very tired." Sakura said softly, more to herself than to the boys. She stood up, stretched, then began walking to the door.

"Hey, where're you going, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her, sitting up in bed. The boys, un-worrying about Sakura, were in nothing but their boxers at this point. Of course, they had covers over them…

Sakura glanced at Naruto. "I need to walk around. This test was stressful." She muttered before she finally opened up the door and walked out, slipping the door closed quietly.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "What do you think-" Naruto started, only to have a pillow thrown at him.

"Shut up dobe and go to sleep."

* * *

><p>Sakura was walking through the doorways until she felt the chakra she was looking for.<p>

She knocked on the door and Temari—the blonde haired girl—opened the door.

Her eyes narrowed at her. "What do you want?" she asked harshly, catching the attention of both of her teammates.

Sakura's own eyes narrowed up at the girl.

"I wish to speak with Gaara." Sakura said bluntly, causing Temari to tense up.

Temari blinked at her. "Why?"

"That's our business, Temari." Gaara said coldly, shoving her aside and more into the room. She nearly stumbled but Kankurou caught her. Gaara slammed the door.

Gaara and Sakura stood outside the door awkwardly for a moment before Sakura finally found the courage to speak.

"I wanted to thank you for….for earlier." Sakura muttered softly, looking downward, her bangs blocking his view of her eyes.

Gaara grunted, causing Sakura's shoulders to slacken. She heaved a sigh, as if some invisible pressure was just released off of her shoulders.

"I also wanted to ask you." Sakura now looked up at Gaara, her back straight and tall, and her eyes hard.

"Oh?" Gaara deadpanned, wondering how much longer this was going to go on.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How long have you guys been here?"

Gaara was silent for a moment before a small smirk made its way to his face. "Four days."

Sakura gaped. "W-What? How is that?"

Gaara was silent and the smirk slipped from his face. "We completed the test in barely five hours."

Sakura gaped and then let out a snort. Gaara looked down at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Really? Why'd you come out there, then? To save me or something?" Sakura asked, rolling her eyes. Gaara snorted at her comment.

"You are my prey to kill. I won't allow you to die by anyone else's hands." Gaara said seriously, causing another awkward silence to arise in the hallway.

Sakura snorted and turned around. "I'd love to see you try." Was all that Gaara heard before she was suddenly gone, not even a cloud of dust left behind her.

Gaara looked at the place she was before before he, himself, snorted again and walked back inside his room, not even bothering—of course—to apologize to his sister.

* * *

><p>As Sakura lay in bed that night, she thought about her and Gaara's first encounter.<p>

_I'll spare you the minor details,_ Sakura thought to herself, narrating her thoughts, _but when we first met…the first thing Gaara said directly to me was "I can't wait to kill you." What a happy beginning…ha!_

Sakura shook her head and finally closed her eyes, sighing as she slipped into the dream realm.

Unknowing to her, a set of onyx eyes were staring at her from his bed: his knuckles white, his lips pressed together tightly, and an ache in his chest.

_She's the only reason why I'm still here…_

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sakura woke up in an odd predicament…<p>

She was smashed between two boys; _her_ boys.

Sakura was silent for a moment before she sighed.

Naruto was over by the wall, clutching onto said wall for dear life with his leg hiked up on it.

Sasuke, though, had Sakura in his arms. His clutched-together hands were on her lower back, while her hands were placed softly on his chest.

She blinked.

_When did this happen?_

"mah, Sakura-chan…" Naruto murmured in his sleep, shifting on the wall. Sakura sweatdropped at the drool coming from his mouth.

Sakura turned over, so her back was to Sasuke. She lifted her foot and grinded her foot on his bottom.

"Uwahhh!" Naruto yelled in anguish as his crotch was being grinded against the wall.

Sakura felt Sasuke tense and finally begin to wake up.

"Idiot! Baka! Hentai! Pervert!" Sakura yelled in anger as she continued to hurt her teammate. Every other hit or so, she'd take her foot off of him and kick him in the back or the legs, then get right back to grinding him against the wall.

Sasuke snorted at his being-smashed teammate. Sakura froze, her leg still pushing Naruto into the wall. She peeked over her shoulder at Sasuke and smiled lightly, although it looked more like a smirk. She then turned back to Naruto, an evil glint in her eye.

"W-What'd I do to you, S-Sakura-chaaaan!" Naruto yelled out, before Sakura shoved him one more time before finally getting up. Naruto had tears running down his face. "Owwwie! Sakura-chaaan!"

Sasuke snorted again, although it sounded strangled since he was having to hold in his laughs. He got up off of the bed and stood beside Sakura, staring at the amusement sight in front of him. Ah, how he _loved_ his teammates…

Sakura grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"You'd better be glad that I'm rather _lenient_ in the morning, baka." Sakura hissed out, her eyes narrowed in on the crying Naruto, who was on his back and holding onto his crushed crotch.

Sasuke finally let out a low laugh before he pulled on Sakura's hand towards the door.

"Come on, Sakura." He muttered, his intent to go to breakfast. Sakura was looking at him confused and wasn't cooperating, so Sasuke had to drag her. "I'm hungry."

Sakura pouted but complied and stood beside him, although she had withdrew her hand from his clutches.

_I wonder what started this side of Sasuke…_ Sakura thought to herself, casting a glance at the thought-about boy.

**-The Night Before; 3:00 A.M.-**

Team 7 was in their room, silent as a mouse, and as comfortable as a—

_**Snore**_

….as a rock.

_**Snore**_

_Oh god Naruto, shut up._ One duck-haired boy thought to himself as he curled himself around his pillow, burrowing his head underneath the material.

The pink headed girl was oblivious to the world. Her body was strung across the bed as if she were a five-pointed star. You would think that her head would be at the _head_ of the bed….but, strangely, that wasn't the case.

Her head was hanging off the side of the bed. Her arms were strung out beside her, and her legs were straightened beside the wall—almost as if she was doing the splits on the wall.

The duck-haired boy, you see, was in the middle of a semi-bad dream. If you could call it a dream. He would call it nightmare.

I mean, if you call running from your blood-covered brother a dream, especially if said brother is chasing you with a sword and is grinning manically and _just_ finished killed your **whole** family, then you obviously have a few problems up in your noggin. Of course, no one's judging….

Anyway, said boy was trying to find comfort in the only way he possibly could. If he could have a conscious thought during his dreams, his thought would be something along these lines: _Damn these dreams._

You see, Sasuke, the duck-haired boy that we all know and _love_, has horrible night terrors. Usually, whenever he wakes up—even though he won't ever admit to it—he will have a few tears dripping from his tear ducts. The dreams don't usually come unless he's by himself—his senses have something to do with his dreams, oddly, seeing as how if he is around others, then he won't have dreams at all.

Of course, his dream wasn't one of those dreams. Oh no. It was even worse…let's check it out, shall we?

_Dream Sequence: Sasuke_

_A pink bunny frolicked through the bright, flowery fields. His breathe escaped him in heaves and pants as he carried something—no, more like some_one—_on his shoulders…_

_An evil, maniacal, crazy laugh spewed from the luggage on the rabbit. "RUN FASTER, SASUKE!" The luggage yelled out happily, his eyes wide with madness and a huge grin on his lips._

"_Oh god!" The rabbit yelled, thrusting his head forward so he would have some momentum. On top of this little rabbit's head was a little bit of blue and black, duck-shaped hair. "Why!" The rabbit-boy yelled out in sorrow, the boy on top of him swaying from side to side, making it all that harder._

"_Move faster, Sasuke, or I'll kill you!" Another crazy laugh spewed from the luggage._

"_Shut up, Itachi!" The rabbit yelled. The luggage glared down at him, his blood red eyes seemingly staring _through_ the rabbit. The black comma's in his eyes swirled with his annoyance._

"_No, Foolish Little Brother, _you_ shut up."_

_The little pink rabbit seemed to whimper before it sped up, wishing he could speed away from his crazy brother, who was now resuming in his laughing spree._

"_Uwahahahahaha! THAT'S IT, SASUKE! Run! Run like the little rabbit you are! Buwahahahahaha!"_

_End Dream Sequence: Sasuke_

….Yeah…that's kind of scary. J-Just a tad bit…

And so the boy woke up, got up from his bed, and stood in the middle of the room, severely shaken from his traumatic dream.

He eyed the bed that Sakura was on and sighed softly before walking to it and picking Sakura up. She didn't even stir, she only moved closer to his bare chest. He smirked softly before setting her back down and laying himself down on the edge of the bed. Sakura moved closer to him and he held onto her happily, his eyes closing slowly.

An hour later, a groggy blonde woke up and eyed the bed, seeing the two cuddled together. Naruto scrunched his nose together and got up from his bed. He stretched and yawned loudly, although the sleeping pair didn't rouse. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

_That makes me feel lonely…_ the sleepy Naruto thought to himself, before deciding what to do. He walked quietly over to the bed and then slipped behind Sakura and cuddled up to her. She shifted slightly, but it didn't bother either of the boys. Naruto smiled and sighed into Sakura's hair before he fell into a dreamless sleep.

**-The present-**

Sakura and Sasuke walked into the kitchen, where they spotted some of the competition. Most of them were people who the two didn't even know. One team, though, the two knew very well…

"Gaara." Sakura nodded in his direction. He nodded back in greeting and Sasuke nodded as well.

And that was the extent of the Gaara/Sakura & Sasuke conversation. What an awesome conversation….

Oh, yes, note the heavy sarcasm on that last sentence, will you, dear?

* * *

><p>The rest of the morning was spent with the trio relaxing and building up their chakra.<p>

"Uwahh, finally!" Came a loud voice from the entrance.

Sasuke and Sakura tensed, knowing that voice.

"Oh god.." Sasuke muttered, before he shivered. Sakura turned her head to see her rival—Ino-pig.

Sakura stepped in front of the other team. "Hey, Ino-pig."

Ino's nostrils flared. "Billboard brow!"

Shikamaru and Choji walked around the two quarrelling girls, sighing as they went. They stopped in front of Sasuke.

"So, how long has your team been here?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke shrugged and replied "Since the middle of yesterday."

Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Troublesome. This test is nothing but troublesome."

Sasuke chuckled. "Oddly enough, I agree."

Shikamaru eyed Sasuke's expression before he turned to Sakura. He noticed how Sakura seemed happier some how, which wasn't strange, but what was strange was…

The Uchiha seemed…happy.

Shikamaru turned back to Sasuke and raised an eyebrow, questioning what the deal between them was.

Sasuke stared at him blankly, making Shikamaru sigh again.

"Hey Choji, you've gotta be hungry." Shikamaru said, pointing Choji to the kitchen.

"Food!" Choji yelled, running towards the kitchen, his arms out reached for said room.

Sasuke sweatdropped as he looked after the boy, having turned around to watch the amusing display.

Shikamaru cleared his throat before he went Choji's direction, except he stopped in front of Sasuke. Shikamaru glanced back at the Uchiha and then nodded his head a direction.

Sasuke sighed but followed nonetheless.

Sakura and Ino then turned around, only to find they were the only ones left in the room. The two girls looked at each other, blinked, then shrugged and smiled at each other.

"So, how'd your exam go?" Sakura asked Ino softly, leading her towards a couch that was in the room.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! Well, it was awful, you see…"

**-With Shikamaru and Sasuke-**

The two boys had headed for the roof of the building. Shikamaru strangely knew this place…

"How do you know your way around the tower, Shikamaru?" Sasuke asked curiously, walking beside the lazy boy.

"Well…" Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "It's troublesome, but my dad sometimes makes me come to the Forest of Death to train with him." Shikamaru sighed and glanced at Sasuke's slightly startled face. "I had to memorize the tower's outlay. Troublesome father.."

Sasuke let out a chuckle and Shikamaru once again glanced at him.

The two reached the roof and as they stared out above the trees, Shikamaru sighed and turned around, leaning his lower back on the railing.

"So Sasuke, tell me." Shikamaru said, earning a confused glance from Sasuke.

"Wha-"

"What's going on between you and Sakura? Your both acting happier than usual, and frankly, it's kind of scary." Shikamaru said, looking into Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke twitched and turned back to look out over the forest.

"Nothing's going on between us…" Sasuke replied hesitantly.

Shikamaru sighed and turned back around. "I hate to say it, but I claim bull shit." Sasuke looked at Shikamaru startled. "Something may not have happened, yet-" Sasuke blushed, so he turned his head. Shikamaru chuckled before continuing. "but you have realized something."

Sasuke sighed and stared down below them, at the entrance of the tower.

"Maybe another time, Shikamaru." Sasuke looked up at Shikamaru, and he could understand then. He wasn't ready to admit his feelings yet. "Another time." Sasuke then drifted off, away from Shikamaru and down the stairs.

Shikamaru stayed up on the roof and leaned on the railing.

* * *

><p>Later that day, the kids were lined up inside the tower. The room they were in—well, arena—was in the underground part of the tower. Out of all the genin in the exams—who hadn't taken the exams before— only Shikamaru knew about it, but he'd never been down there.<p>

"Attention all genin!" Sarutobi yelled out, getting all of the genin's attention. The genin were standing in lines of 3x7. There were three rows, which seven kids in each row.

"Since there are too many of you, you will go through a preliminary!" Sakura's eyes widened at this.

_How the _hell_ did Itachi know this would happen?_

"We will pair you off with someone, and the winner will go onto the third exam! Are there any questions?" Sarutobi asked, his voice toned down a bit since the whole arena was silent.

Ino raised her hand and he pointed to her and called her name.

"Ah, yeah.." Ino looked around nervously and blushed. All of the sudden attention was kind of nerve-wracking. "Why aren't we waiting a few days, before starting the preliminaries? I mean, all of us are tired and…" Ino saw the look Sakura was giving her. "What, Billboard Brow?" Ino asked annoyed. Sakura grinned.

Sakura was amused. "They are doing it, because some of us will be too exhausted to fight, so it will cause the battles to go by sooner. Plus, some of the people here aren't very tired, seeing as we didn't get here on the last day, so we actually had time to rest…" Sakura let her voice trail off, causing Ino's ear to release steam.

"Why you…!"

"Girls." Sarutobi said sternly, causing Sakura to look at him apologetically, which he smiled at. Sakura smiled back at him.

"Now, are there any more questions?" Sarutobi asked before turning to Anko. "Anko, if you would…"

Anko grinned at the hokage before stepping up and yelling out to the kids, "Jump back over the railings and wait until we call your names! If you aren't fighting, please don't come into the arena for any reason! We have medical personnel standing by for any reason, so no one will die." Anko then smirked. "Well, hopefully none of you will die." A few genin gulped in fear, while all the others either smirked or just didn't show any emotion.

Sakura looked around the arena, since all the genin were now behind the rails. Anko appeared beside her, so she could hang with her "daughter."

"Hey, Anko-chan, where's Kabuto?"

Anko looked down at Sakura oddly. "Kabuto…?" Anko thought for a few moments before she remembered who he was. "Oh! Him. Well, at the beginning, on your forms, in the fine print, we said that if you wanted to quit the exam after the second exam, then you had to come to one of us Chuunin Advisor's and tell us, so we wouldn't have to deal with you." Anko smirked while Sakura laughed and shook her head.

"You have such an attractive way with your words, Anko-chan." A voice behind them sid. Anko turned around and blushed and pouted at Sakura's sensei. Sakura rolled her eyes at the obvious flirtation going on between the two.

"Oh god. Not this again." Sakura muttered to herself as she moved closer to Sasuke and Naruto, who were looking at the two sensei oddly.

"Are they…together?" Sasuke asked Sakura softly, which made Sakura shiver.

"Sorta. Off and on." Sakura said, watching the computer screen flip through multiple names. "I hope I get to fight against someone good.." Sakura said smirking, a dark look in her eyes. Sasuke eyed her for a minute before he turned to the computer screen as well. "Oh, it's slowing down!"

"**Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi"**

* * *

><p>Seeing as nothing changes from the anime, that I'm sure everyone has seen (the manga's the same to, I think) <em>I'll spare you the reading time, since everything happens as it does in the anim-<em>

"Uh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked at random, seeing Sakura's face lighten up in a weird, certain way—which could only mean one thing….

Sakura turned to Naruto and tilted her head, showing him he had her attention.

"Uh, are you narrating in your head again?" Naruto asked nervously, before seeing the blush that etched it's way onto her cheeks.

"M-Maybe.." Sakura said nervously before turning around, towards the arena.

"Will the winners come down to the arena's area?" Hayate said loudly before letting out a whooping cough.

Sakura sweatdropped but her and Naruto made their way to the arena, even though Sakura just poofed there in smoke.

Standing in the arena were nine people: Shino, Kankuro, Sakura, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Gaara, and Dosu. Sasuke would be down there but Kakashi has him in the back. They're trying to seal his curse mark again. Sasuke managed to undo it.

Sakura rubbed her temples then decided to listen in on what Hayate was saying.

"…three months to train before the actual exams start. You'll be paired off for another one-on-one round. Further explanation of the final exam will happen in the beginning of the exam. Good luck, and have a fun time traini-" Before Genma could finish his last word—his _last word, Damnit!_—he began another coughing fit.

Sakura sweatdropped but once they said everyone could leave, Sakura didn't take her chances for anyone, especially that weird Rock Lee kid who kept staring at her with hearts in his eyes…

Sakura disappeared in a cloud of cherry blossoms.

That night, she had a visitor…

She had been laying in bed, exhausted and completely happy and content with her results—and the fact that she was finally _laying in a bed again!_

Suddenly, her window slid open, nearly scaring her to death, and in slid Itachi—the black shadow in Sakura's thoughts.

Sakura sighed, relaxing her arms which had unconsciously clutched tightly to her chest. Itachi looked at her with an amused look on his face, which Sakura glared at him for.

"So, you'll train me now, right?" Sakura asked Itachi slowly, eyeing his face for a reaction.

His face split into a wide smirk. "Of course, Sakura-chan. Especially after your marvelous display against that girl."

Sakura nodded and patted her bed, motioning for him to sit down.

Sakura smirked "Why don't you remind me of my battle, hmm?"

Itachi smirked back, "Well…"

**(A/N Some parts of this, Itachi won't say to Sakura, those are just points he's more or less thinking about…trust me, you'll know 'em when you see them…)**

_Flashback_

"_Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino"_

_Sakura bit her lip. _Finally…it's my turn to kick me some ass._ Sakura grinned._

_Sakura took two steps back, to where she was pressed against the wall. Ino was already down in the arena. Sakura got a dark look in her eye as she kept grinning. She put chakra into her feet and almost literally stepped up onto the railing. She then proceeded to jump off of the railing._

_She stood in front of Ino, a leg cocked behind her and softly resting on the ground. She was in her favorite fighting stance. Her right hand was to her side and her left arm was bent in front of her. Her body was tilted to the right._

_Ino eyed her position and got into her own position, although Sakura could see a lot of holes in hers._

"_Before we begin Ino, I have something to say to you." Sakura said, still in her position. All the whispering audience went silent at that. Even Hayate, who was in the middle of a coughing-fest, went silent._

"_Oh? What is it, Billboard Brow?" Ino mocked, a cocky smirk on her face._

_Sakura smiled "Whatever I end up hurting on you, I'll make sure the medics heal it completely, all before you wake up from unconsciousness." Sakura smirked now, her cocky smirk mirroring Ino's._

_No one caught it, but Gaara's hand twitched, along with an eyebrow. He was beginning to get slightly blood lusting. _Hopefully my battle is next…

_Ino snorted. "Che, yeah right. You won't be able to hit me once. I'll make sure the medics heal you as well, Haruno." Ino said with a slight sneer._

_Sakura snorted but said nothing more. She looked at Hayate, who understood._

"_Let the battle between Ino and Sakura…begin!"_

_Ino was left in the arena alone. She was looking everyone for her rival._

"_I know you're scared of me, Sakura, but jeez!" Ino taunted, hoping Sakura would reveal herself._

"_You've already lost, Ino." Said Sakura. Ino turned around, only to see no one._

I swear I just heard her behind me though…

_Sakura looked amused at Ino. Ino was turning around in every direction, trying to find Sakura, even though Sakura was walking right up to the girl._

_Sakura got in front of Ino, and before Ino could turn around again, Sakura took off the Genjutsu. She grinned at the horrified blonde._

"_Boo." Sakura said before she whipped around in a complete 360 degree. She lifted her leg and kicked Ino in the side of the face with the top of her foot._

_Unbeknownst to her, she ended up shifting gravity a tad bit, so Ino was thrown into the farthest wall. Sakura slowly set down her leg and resumed her fighting stance, although inwardly, she was wondering how she had kicked Ino that far whenever she hadn't meant to kick her very hard in the first place…_

_Ino slowly came out of the hole in the wall. Hayate gaped at the size of the hole. There was a crack in the wall, leading up to the ceiling…_

Well, we'll have to get that fixed pretty soon…_ Hayate thought to himself._

_Ino slowly made her way over to Sakura, before she glared at the pink-haired ninja._

"_You…" Ino growled out, before assuming a stance—oh no, not a fighting stance. A Jutsu stance._

"_I'll make you pay for hurting my beautiful face."_

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"_ Ino called out before her soul entered Sakura's mind, causing her body to fall limply to the ground._

_Sakura stumbled around, clutching onto her head._

"_Get out…of…my mind!" Sakura yelled out in anger, before falling to her knees._

_**-In Sakura's Mind-**_

_Ino gaped at the man sitting in Sakura's mind._

"_W-Who're you?" Ino asked nervously, seeing the glare she was receiving. She saw the man's deathly sick body stand up before he was suddenly in front of her._

_He put a finger underneath her chin and lifted her face up to where he could see her face._

_All of a sudden, his skeleton-like body filled out with muscles, proving to make him more Shinobi-like. His body turned out to be muscular, but not too muscular. He was _lean.

_Ino gulped, staring into his ringed eyes._

"_You have entered my sister's mind, haven't you?" The man purred out softly, causing Ino to gulp again._

"_S-Sister?" Ino stuttered, unable to keep a blush down any longer._

"_Ah-ha." The man confirmed before he tsked and walked back to the chair he had been sitting in. _That chair_, Ino thought to herself, _is more like a freaking **throne**_._

"_Well, since you're here…and since you'll soon forget all of this…" Ino gulped at the threat laced in his sentence. "I'll tell you a little secret." The man smirked at Ino's obvious fear. She fell to her knees in her fear. _That's right, you little insect._ The man thought to himself, his red hair bouncing lightly whenever he nodded his hair, a dark smirk on his face._

"_Sakura is my little sister." _

_Ino gaped. "B-But how?" She murmured, not wanting to offend the man in front of her._

_The man tsked again. "Well, you see, whenever two people love each other very much…" The man started, before he busted out laughing. "I don't really have to explain _sex_ do you, do I?" The man busted out into louder laughing at Ino's flushed face._

"_Well, now that you know our secret…" The man started, before he was suddenly in her face again. She found herself dangling in the air by his hand on her throat._

"_It's time to have some fun."_

"_W-What?" She sputtered, trying to get some much needed air in. The hand on her throat tightened and she gasped, trying to get more air._

"_I did say I was going to make you forget, didn't I?"_

_The man let out a feral smirk._

_**-In Reality-**_

_Sakura stood up whenever Ino's body began to jerk around. She walked over to her body and lifted her head onto her lap._

"_Ino? What's wrong?" _

_Sakura noticed drool forming at the edge of her lips. Sakura's eyes widened._

"_We need a medic over here!" She called out, fearing for Ino._

_Hayate appeared beside Ino and gazed down at her._

"_Haruno Sakura wins." He said hurriedly before he ushered the medics over to take Ino's body._

"_I'm coming with you."_

_The medic declined and Sakura followed anyway._

"_Miss…" The medic started. Sakura smirked at her. This nurse seemed to be the head nurse, since she was speaking for the other three._

"_I said that I would make sure Ino gets healed up, so I'll do as I promised."_

_Flashback End_

Sakura was silent as she remembered the rest of the experience. Whenever Ino had woken up, she had screamed bloody murder at the sight of Sakura's face. Sakura had flinched back and asked her what was wrong.

"She's still in recovery…" Sakura muttered to herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and laying her chin in between her knees.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her knees, which lightly brushed against her cheek. She looked up at the man staring down at her with soft onyx eyes.

"She'll be fine." He said simply.

Sakura chuckled. Short but sweet.

Sakura smiled up at him. "Yes, I am sure she will as well. I just wonder what she saw in my mind…"

Itachi looked away and sat on the bed, taking his hand off of Sakura's knee. She tilted her head at him, before following his gaze out the window. Outside, she saw nothing. In the distance, though, she could see a red-haired boy sitting on top of a building.

She saw movement below that building and suddenly, she was standing in front of the window. She turned to Itachi.

"I'll have to cut out visit short. I afraid someone's about to be killed…" Sakura winced whenever she opened the window.

Suddenly, she felt something brush against her shoulder. She turned around to see that Itachi was holding out a cloak for her. She tilted her head and him and grabbed it. It was a pure black cloak that looked to be professionally made.

She looked up at Itachi to see that he was already gone.

She smiled and threw on the cloak. She slipped out of her window and began running towards the building.

* * *

><p>"Gaara." Dosu said, as he nodded towards the boys direction.<p>

Gaara didn't even acknowledge him.

Dosu cleared his throat. "As you probably assume, I'm here to make sure our deal still stands…" Dosu looked up at Gaara in slight fear whenever he heard a shift of clothing.

As he feared, Gaara's hand was already reaching out towards him. Dosu's eyes widened in fear.

"G-Gaara?" Dosu asked nervously. "N-Now, w-what's the problem?"

"You tried to kill her." Gaara said coldly, causing Dosu to flinch whenever Gaara had said 'her.'

"W-We didn't know that she was under your claim, so…" Dosu saw Gaara put his hand down and he heard a shuffling noise behind him. He was scared Gaara would try to kill him with his back turned, so he refused to turn around.

"Who's under who's claim?" A woman's voice asked behind him. Dosu tensed and finally, he turned around.

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, it's only you."

Sakura let out a 'che' before she stepped up beside him. She sent a glare to him, which he reciprocated, then looked to Gaara.

"I could feel your murderous intent from my room, Gaara." Sakura stated casually, as if talking about the wind.

Gaara stared at her for a minute.

"I'd like to keep him alive, if that's alright with you." Sakura stated.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He asked.

Sakura grinned. "Of course. I'm hoping to get a bit of revenge for what happened during the second exam." Sakura suddenly phased to be in front of Dosu. She glared into his eyes, which he took a step back from. "He is mine to kill." Dosu glared back at Sakura and took a step closer. He held up his sound emitter threateningly.

The only thing that broke the glaring contest up with Gaara's chuckle.

"I see. I'll leave him to you, then, Haruno-san." Gaara then began to leave.

Sakura appeared in front of him, up on the buildings ledge. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Dosu took this time to escape from the two scary people.

"You may call me Sakura, Gaara-kun." Sakura stated with a smile at him.

Gaara looked amused "Gaara-kun?" He asked.

"Well, I have a right to call you what I wish, correct?" She laughed softly at his expression. He looked slightly shocked.

Gaara suddenly began walking towards her. She didn't move an inch.

"Why are you not afraid of me, Haruno Sakura?" Gaara asked, now hardly a foot in front of Sakura.

"Why? Because I can see who you are inside." Sakura almost thought about fleeing at that point, so she could give him something to chew over, but she stayed.

Gaara only remained silent.

"You're scared in this world—at heart, you're nothing but a little boy who wasn't loved enough." She looked away, towards the Hokage building.

"Where do you get those thoughts from, Haruno?" He asked her.

She didn't even glance at him. "I don't remember anything of my years before I turned eight." At this point, she did glance at him. "I can sense a malevolent chakra inside of you. Since Sarutobi loves me so, I have the ability to look through what records I want to, just so long as I ask before I snoop." She turned to him.

"So, what bijuu do you have inside of you?"

Gaara tensed, the sand shuffling around his feet.

'**Kill…'** a voice growled in his head. Gaara tensed and resisted the urge to grab onto his head.

"Ichibi." Was all Gaara said before he disappeared. Sakura smiled.

"At least he opened up to me a bit."

**-The next evening-**

"Anko-chan?" Sakura called out through the house before receiving a muffled reply from inside the kitchen. Sakura ventured inside the kitchen to smell dango.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Anko asked, turning around to see Sakura with the dango dough in her hands.

Sakura eyed the dango hungry and she phased in front of Anko, tore off a—large—piece of dango and then phased to sit on the couch. Anko pouted.

"I just wanted you to know. From here on out, I'll be training at night. This means, I'll need to get sleep during the day, at all possible."

Anko raised her eyebrow. "Why're you telling me?"

Sakura smiled. "Just in case you need me. You'll be able to sense my chakra. I'll have chakra nets up around the area I'm training in, so if anyone comes near, I'll know to stop training. After all, I wouldn't want to accidentally kill someone, would I?" Sakura asked rhetorically. Anko laughed and nodded.

"Alright, I'll let you get your sleep, Sakura-chan. Whenever you're asleep, I assume I need to kick out your teammates?" Anko asked, now turning around to continue making her dango.

Sakura took another bite out of her dango dough. "Of course. Ask them what they want, and if they say it's an emergency, then you can let them in to wake me. Or you can wake me up, it doesn't matter to me."

Anko nodded. "Alright, I'm fine with that."

Sakura nodded. "Now hurry up with that dango. I want to take a—large—plate with me whenever I go training."

* * *

><p>Whenever Sakura arrived out in the forest, she immediately sensed Itachi's chakra. She followed his chakra and let out a large chakra net.<p>

She stood in front of Itachi with the plate of dango.

Itachi eyed the dango hungrily and, before Sakura could do anything about it, appeared in front of Sakura and stole the plate of dango.

Sakura pouted and tried to grab it back, but he was already in his original place. He began to eat the dango slowly, savoring the taste.

"This tastes different than last time." Itachi observed, looking down at the dango in thought. "Anko made this." Itachi stated, now looking up at the nodding Sakura.

"Yep. Glad you could tell a difference. No one else can." Sakura smirked. "Of course, no one has such a weakness for dango such as Anko and I. I applaud your weakness."

Itachi grunted and put the rest of the plate of dango down. There were three sticks of dango left. Whenever Itachi stood back up, he glanced back down longingly at the dango. Sakura caught his glance and smirked at him.

"Now then, this is what I'll train you on." Itachi handed Sakura a sheet of paper, which she took eagerly. "The paper is set to burn in five minutes, so you'll need to memorize it now."

Sakura nodded and looked over the paper.

_Training:_

_-Genjutsu_

_-Ninjutsu_

_-Taijutsu_

_-Endurance_

_-Stamina_

_-Elemental Jutsu_

_-Surprise_

Sakura eyed the last bullet with curiosity.

"Surprise?"

Itachi chuckled before he appeared in front of her with a stick of dango. She tried to reach out for it, but the moment her fingers came close to it, Itachi disappeared.

"Damn it, Itachi." She growled softly. She heard a chuckle and pouted.

"Training begins now."

**A/N WOOOOOOT. Finished!**

**1) Before I forget it, let me say this. If you have any questions, ask me. I won't answer them in in a "reply to review" message, I'll just answer them down here, since others may be wondering it as well.**

**2) If you guys want me to reply to messages in the a/n instead of sending you a message, tell me. Pleeasseee?**

**3) Well, since we're talking about reviews…-cheers- I'M SO HAPPY. Because of the awesome amount of reviews, I added in the Sasuke's Dream part. Of course, it may not be as awesome as I imagined it, but it was added in at the last minute. One of these days, I may edit it to be longer and a lot better. I may do that after I get this story done.**

**WE'RE AT 41 REVIEWS! It's one more review than Kitsune-no-Sakura At Your Service!, so I am HAPPEH. KnSAYS (lol…Kn says…) has been in the lead for EVERYTHING (reviews, alerts, etc.) for a LONG time. IT'S FINALLY BEEN BEAT. -dances-**

**4) I PLAN TO FINISH THIS. -squeals- I've found out something. For all of you who have the same problem as me (keep running out of inspiration, etc.), while you write, if you come up with anything for the future…WRITE IT DOWN. Like, seriously. It helps. I'm going to start on chapter9 as soon as I update this, so yeah. **

**Next Chapter: Chapter09: **_**The Finish**_

**Honestly, chapter 9 may end up being really short, so be ready for that. Chapter 10 is going to be my favorite chapter, not chapter 9, lol, whoops.**

**5) Lemme think here…I'm on Christmas Break, so I'll have time to write. -looks super excited-**

**7) Before I forget it, this story should go on until around chapter 20. I'd do a full outline of the story, but then I wouldn't want to write the story anymore, since I'd already wrote down the keypoints. So, I'll reframe from doing that…**

**Everyone, have a good Christmas and a good New Years and LET'S DO THIS. -dances-**

**8) Btw, if you like techno, go onto youtube and look up Tecktonik songs. One that I suggest to everyone is Digiben by Mondotek. It is the bomb. I'm addicted. It makes me want to get up and dance everytime I listen to it. -is listening to it now, so I have a huge urge to stop writing and dance- **

**Anyway, I love you all, and I hope-wait, I've said this already. Bah. Bye guys!~ -waves bye bye-**

**~/Takai-sama\~**

**P.S. Can anyone guess the surprise? Whoever gets it, I'll dedicate the next chapter to them. Or do a one-shot or something. But you may have to wait on the one-shot, since I'm writing this, but whatever. Your choice. I can't draw. So don't ask for a drawing. Sadly. Otherwise I would. Anyhoo. Have fun guessing!~**

**P.S.S. What the hell, ! I can't do my double hyphen deal I usually do to separate topics or whatever. I just redid the hyphens twice. Neither time did they stay. God damn it...-stabs computer- **


	9. The End

_Chapter 09: The End_

Three months. That's how long it's been since Sakura had seen Naruto and Sasuke.

She wiped her forehead, just finishing her morning exercises. She took to training with Gai, to cover up the sudden spike in exercise and enhancements in Taijutsu, as Itachi described it. Sakura also took up training with Kurenai, for an excuse on the sudden spike on Sakura's Genjutsu abilities and the new techniques she had acquired.

Sakura had even gone to the library to check out random scrolls that had fire techniques in them, so there would be a record of Sakura at the library.

Itachi and Sakura had thought of just about everything.

During the three months, Naruto had gone off to train with Jiraya, while Sasuke had went to train with Kakashi. Kakashi had almost been heartbroken when Sakura told him to not feel bad.

_Flashback_

_Sakura finally found Kakashi and Sasuke in the desert. Sakura had asked Sarutobi if she could go outside of the village, seeing as she needed to talk to Kakashi._

_Sakura climbed up the rock, almost falling multiple times, before she finally made it to the top. There, she found Sasuke, Kakashi, and surprisingly Gaara._

_Sakura tilted her head at the red-haired boy._

"_Kakashi-sensei, I need to talk to you." Sakura said, eyeballing Gaara. Kakashi looked at Sakura surprised before he nodded slowly. Sakura then caught Gaara's eye. "And Gaara? I'd appreciate it if you didn't stalk my teammates—especially if you want to kill them." She tilted her head at the glare Gaara sent her. Sasuke tensed, getting ready to battle Gaara if he needed to._

_Gaara turned to Sasuke, glared at said boy, then turned back to Sakura and nodded slowly. "I'll leave then." _

_Gaara then disappeared in a tornado of sand that, _somehow,_ got into Sasuke's eyes._

_So, while Sasuke cursed Gaara's name, Sakura talked to Kakashi._

"_What is it, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked Sakura softly. Sakura sat on the edge of the rock, staring out at the sunset._

"_I just wanted to tell you, then I'm going to be trained by Kurenai-sensei and Gai-sensei." _

_Kakashi looked taken aback. "Why do you need to tell me this?"_

_Sakura pouted slightly. "Because, I didn't want you to feel shocked whenever you saw how much more epic I was, and it wasn't going to be from your teachings." _

_Kakashi chuckled before looking away—looking towards the sunset as well. "I'm sorry I'm a bad teacher to you, Sakura."_

_Sakura looked at him and gaped. "You _know_ that's not what I was trying to say, Kakashi-senpai!" Sakura said shocked, now standing up and staring down at him. Kakashi merely glanced up at her._

"_You might as well have." Sasuke muttered, making Sakura give him a harsh glare. He tensed and turned around, whistling. He was listening in on their conversation._

_Sakura snorted and turned to Kakashi. "You've taught me a hell of a lot more than you think you have." Sakura tilted her head and smiled at Kakashi, who was now looking up at her, an almost hopeful gleam in his eyes. "Who was it that taught me how to 'poof,' as we like to call it."_

_Kakashi muttered his reply._

"_Huh, what was that, Kakashi? I'm afraid I didn't hear that."_

"_I did." Kakashi muttered again, albeit louder than before._

_Sakura grinned. "Of course you did. Who taught me how to be a wise, old woman?"_

_Kakashi sent a playful glare her way. _

_Sakura laughed. "Who taught me what it means to be so awesome?"_

_Kakashi laughed. "Alright, alright, so I have taught you some things. But that wasn't as your sensei."_

_Sakura eyed him as he stood up. "You've been my sensei for as long as I can remember, Kakashi-_sensei_."_

_Flashback End_

And now…it was time for the final exams.

The competitors stood in the middle of the arena, surrounded by nothing but concrete and the huge audience, which housed people as far as Sunagakure.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked Naruto, who only shrugged.

"Maybe he caught onto Sensei's late streak." Sakura giggled lightly and agreed.

"Now then, I have the order of battles, so you guys need to head my way and look at this sheet I have 'ere." The man said.

"Who're you?" Naruto asked the man as he stood in front of him.

"The name's Genma—Shiranui Genma." Genma nodded at the boy who only nodded back and went,

"Ahh."

Sakura gaped at the sheet. She glanced at Gaara to see him grinning at her—_**grinning.**_

Sakura gulped and turned away. _Ok. Now I'm scared. That grin was scary._

_**Competitors:**_

_**Kankurou vs. Aburame Shino**_

_**Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru**_

_**Hyuuga Neji vs. Kinuta Dosu**_

_**Haruno Sakura vs. Gaara**_

_**Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchiha Sasuke**_

* * *

><p>After the battle between Neji and Dosu, Sasuke and Kakashi had appeared in the arena, causing a lot of people to jump out of their seats. Sasuke's hair was much longer—in fact, it was so long now, that his bangs actually brushed against his biceps.<p>

_God, he looks just like..._An image of Itachi flashed through her mind, making her mind teeter. _Could they be..._

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by the proctor.

"Alright, Haruno Sakura and Gaara, come down to the arena!" Genma yelled before jumping up into the Hokage box, so he wouldn't be injured in the battle.

Sakura gulped.

"You'll do fine, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, patting her on the shoulder. He then yelled out, so Gaara could hear him, "Kick his ass, Sakura-chan!"

Ino came up behind Sakura and hugged her tightly. "You got this, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled at them "Thanks guys." She then looked down into the arena, where Gaara was staring at her. A very dark look in his eyes. She gulped again and took a calming, deep breath, closing her eyes while doing so.

_Remember what Itachi taught you...and Kurenai and Gai..._

Sakura shot open her eyes and looked at Gaara with determination in her eyes.

"Let's go, Gaara!" She yelled before hopping over the small wall, only to stop right underneath it. "Huh?" Sakura asked herself before noticing the sand. She sweat-dropped. "Really, Gaara? Really?"

Gaara smirked up at her before beginning to bring her down to the ground. "Well of course, I can't have you trying to kill yourself..." His eyes darkened again and a feral smile was placed upon his lips. "After all, I get to kill you."

Sakura pouted at him.

The crowd went silent. The crowd had been murmuring before that, but now...

You could hear a pin drop.

When Sakura finally touched the ground (or, well, the sand did) she hopped off of the sand and stood in front of Gaara, a smirk on her face.

"You ready to die, Haruno?"

Sakura smirked and her chakra began to fluctuate, causing her hair to rise slightly.

"I don't know, what about you, Gaara_-kun_? Are _you_ ready to die?" Sakura laughed at his raised eyebrow—or, well, his try at it.

"Begin!" Genma shouted, wondering how this battle was going to play out.

Sakura smirked and vanished from Gaara's point of view. Gaara's eyes widened as he turned his head, looking for her.

At the last second, Gaara heard a shuffle of clothing—above him.

He looked up and before he could say "O shit," Sakura's foot connected with his face.

He slid backwards, although his sand caught him.

He stood up with shaky arms and legs. His eyes were wide as his blood lust and shock poured into him, causing a destructive combination of emotions.

He looked up at Sakura, who was smirking at him.

"Well? Are you going to hit me or not, Gaara_-kun_?" Sakura laughed whenever he growled at her. While she had her head thrown back in a laugh, sand surrounded her loosely. Whenever she stopped laughing and looked at Gaara, her eyes widened.

The crowd gasped whenever the sand tightened around her.

"Die, Haruno." Gaara said before the sand smashed together, eliciting a small scream from Sakura, who's blood covered the small area. Gaara smirked and his head twitched, a murderous gleam in his eyes.

The crowd began to murmur and Genma cleared his throat. Sarutobi beside him had stood up and was gaping at what used to be Sakura. "S-Sakura..."

Suddenly, the whole arena itself seemed to shudder. Everyone looked confused and was looking around, so few people were looking at the arena.

Behind Gaara, her back pressed to his, was Sakura.

The people who saw her pointed her out and yelled that she was there, all shocked at how she had appeared—especially since everyone just saw her die.

Gaara's eyes widened whenever he felt Sakura's hair tickle his cheeks. The sand didn't have time to react.

"Hello Gaara." Sakura purred into his ear, her lips softly brushing against his ear. Everyone hushed up at her speaking.

She turned around and wrapped her arms around his chest, making him tense up. He glanced down at her arms, his eyes widened.

"W-Wha-"

"Shh." Sakura hummed into his ears, the vibration causing Gaara to tense more.

"You've very susceptible to Genjutsu, aren't you, Gaara-kun?" Sakura asked Gaara softly, although the whole crowd could hear her.

Gaara's eyes widened even more—well, if it was possible anyway. In fact, his eyes almost looked fearful; almost like he..feared her.

Suddenly, his instincts called to him and he looked up, seeing all the traps around the arena.

Sakura grinned and suddenly appeared about two feet in front of him. Truth be told, he felt like groaning out for the lack of heat.

"You're mine, Sabaku." Sakura said before she inserted chakra into her foot and kicked the ground. She smirked and seemingly disappeared again.

Gaara's eyes widened at the sight of all the weapons coming towards him. It was like slow motion for him—his sand would lash out at any weapons that strayed too close, but otherwise Gaara stood still. A piece of Gaara's sand fell off of Gaara's cheek.

Whenever all the weapons had fallen to the ground—making a circle of weapons around Gaara's feet, thanks to his sand—Gaara looked around for Sakura. Once again, she was gone.

_Oh god._ Gaara thought to himself, looking around frantically.

"Boo." Sakura said into his ear again. The crowd gasped and some of them cried out in fear.

Gaara, though, only let out a choked sound.

Sakura had a kunai piercing Gaara's chest, right above his heart.

"Don't worry, I didn't touch your heart." Sakura whispered into his chest before she disappeared again. She put a Genjutsu over herself to keep herself hidden, since Gaara wasn't any good with Genjutsu.

Gaara let out a choked sound, although he didn't understand what the pain in his shoulder was or what it even meant.

"Oh god, Gaara!" Temari screamed from her place in the stands. He didn't even glance up at her. Instead, he was busy looking for Sakura.

Sakura, once regaining her breath and some chakra since she had used a massive genjutsu, and then multiple smaller genjutsu, released her current genjutsu, shocking Gaara even more.

"What...What'd you do to me, Haruno?" Gaara nearly yelled, causing his brother and sister to tense up as they watched some ANBU begin the handsigns.

Sakura smirked. "Well, if you want to know so badly, then why don't you just look for yourself?" At this point, Gaara's sand was beginning to spiral around himself. The last thing that Sakura saw of the boy, was the boys glowing, glaring eyes pointed directly at her.

Sakura sighed and turned towards the Hokage's box, where she found it empty. She tensed before looking in the stand. She saw white feathers seemingly fall from the ceiling. Sakura tensed and was about to jump up where Naruto used to be but she heard rustling of clothes.

She turned to the ball of sand and her eyes widened. A hole had formed and Sakura saw something moving in there.

"What the..." Sakura murmured, her eyes widened in fear. She took a few steps back until her back hit the wall.

"_**Are you scared now, Haruno?"**_ A demonic voice spewed from the ball.

Sakura tensed and saw black spots dot her vision.

_Oh god, I can't faint now. He'd kill me!_

"Move, Sakura!" A voice yelled from above her.

Sakura stood still.

_Oh god, he's going to kill me._ Sakura's eyes remained on the ball, whenever suddenly an eye was placed at the opening. The eye was completely black save for the pupil, which was in the shape of a plus sign and was yellow. Sakura held in a girlish scream.

"SAKURA!" A boy's voice yelled from above her before he plopped onto the ground in front of her. He stood up and took Sakura's face into his hands.

"Haruno Sakura, are you listening to me?" The man's voice finally cut itself into her consciousness.

Sakura looked up at her sensei.

"K-Kakashi-senpai.." Sakura muttered hoarsely. Sakura felt the tears swimming in her eyes, but she refused to let them out.

"It's alright, Sakura-chan. I'll protect you." Kakashi said, turning around and holding a kunai out in front of him.

"Kakashi-senpai, what's happening?" Sakura asked hurriedly, clutching onto the back of his Jounin jacket.

Kakashi didn't even glance at her. "It's an ambush, Sakura. The kazekage was really Orochimaru in disguise." Kakashi glanced back at Sakura to see that she was even whiter than before. "It's alright Sakura-chan, he isn't here for Sasuke."

Sakura nodded slowly and peeked around Kakashi to see that Temari and Kankurou had an arm of Gaara's around their shoulders. They glanced at Sakura and Kakashi before disappearing. Sakura relaxed visibly before she let go of Kakashi's vest.

"So...that's the bijuu's power." Sakura said softly, causing Kakashi to glance at her in shock. Sakura's voice was hard and her face was like stone.

"How do you know about the bijuu?" Kakashi asked before he jumped up the stands. Sakura followed him and he motioned for her to wake Naruto.

"I'm almost like a granddaughter to Sarutobi, therefore Sarutobi lets me in on secrets that hardly anyone knows about." Sakura stated, flashing Kakashi a smile.

"Hey wait. Where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked before looking at Kakashi horrified. Kakashi looked around and then his face mirrored hers.

"Shit."

* * *

><p><strong>AN Buwahaha. Cliffhanger...sorta. Cause I don't really plan to bring it back...but whatever. Buwahahaha.**

**1) Yeah, I decided to end it here...I can't think of anything for the bijuu fight and I can't stand to write this chapter any further.**

**2) It's so weird to be writing the A/N on page 6...o.o Usually it's something like...page 20 or something, lol. But, I think I warned you guys that this chapter wouldn't be very long, so yeah. Lol. I enjoyed this chapter though. Especially the Gaara vs. Sakura part.**

**3)Uh, the battle list that Genma had...well, that's the order that the battles went in. Yeah, sorry, you guys don't get the see the Sasuke vs. Naruto battle. D=**

**4) Is it just me, or is my writing style starting to change a bit? I mean, I can't stand to even go and read the first two chapters of this...o.o are those two chapters different than these? Someone please tell me. D=**

**5) WOOT! We got 8 reviews for the last chapter!~ Sadly, no one guessed the surprise right, but I'll keep that little deal open for a few chapters, since it doesn't really have a place...for right now anyway, lol. Why is it that so little people review and such on this story? D= Someone should answer that for me. D= I'll put the review replies on here now. o**

**6)Review Replies:**

**a1) Black Snake Eyes:** No, that's not the surprise!~ Ahahaha, the Itachi part of the dream scared me (since Itachi was doing all the crazy laughter…) but, uh…Sasuke had to have the shit scared out of him. D= And I know. O.o Gaara's adorable. X3

**a2)TDI-Ryro-Eclares:** Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! =D

**a3)Nao-chi:** You're welcome, and yes, yes it is! =D And ohh, I like the way the stories going as well….-grins- and you have a happy holidays to!~

**a4)Animeluver14:** I'll update asap, I promise. Lol. The next update will, hopefully, be out before Christmas…I should do something like a special Christmas chapter, but I guess I just need to stick with the plot, lest I reveal something…I may do a Christmas chapter next year, whenever more has revealed, ne? ;D Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**a5)La canella:** I'm glad that you're happy! And I'm afraid not. D= Don't ever be sorry for what you think—the way everyone thinks, is what makes us unique. Well, it's just one way it makes us unique. ;D And thanks for the compliment, I will try to update asap~

**a6)Winged-angel21:** I'm glad you do, cause that's exactly what I like to see. ;D

**a7)firehottie: **Hey, I'm glad you can't wait! Honestly, I'm stuck, so...I can't wait until I write more! Ahahaha. Thanks for reviewing!

**a8)PaulaWaula**: I'm glad you like it, and good, good...I totally didn't put crack or anything in the first chapter...noooo...-shifty eyes- Lol, anyway. And it's a fanfiction, so Ita-chan is allowed to be a bit OOC. D= Afterall, he has to appeal to Sakura, riiiiight? ;D And I like him a bit more emotional to...his emotionless would drive me nuts! lol, thanks for reviewing! ;D

**7) Hmm...what else to discuss...OH. Sakura seemed kind of mary-sueish in this chapter. And I'm trying to steer clear of it, which you can probably tell by her suddenly becoming almost scared shitless.**

**8) I hate this chapter. I really, truly do. I almost didn't write it. I was SO close to just saying "use your damn imaginations!"...but then I got an idea for it, so I HAD to write it...the idea had been the whole..Gaara vs. Sakura deal...lol...yeah. **

**9) So...who else hates this chapter? ...Anyone? Please tell me if you do, because seriously, I would appreciate it. Lol. Just so I know that I'm not the only one out there. Ahahaha.**

**10) Let me tell you, I am so pleased with the reviews. I may seem insignificant to a lot of people...but still, it's a lot to me! We're almost at fifty! We're at 49 atm (on December 30, 2011 lol).**

**11) So, who else is excited for New Years? Anyone else? Not me, lol. It means I have to go back to school..I go back to school the second of January...D= I hate it..I dun wanna go...Dun make meh mama! D: **

**12) Well..I hope everyone enjoys my stories. :3 Especially PoS, because I love it. This is the longest I've ever been to be inspired for something. So I am VERY proud of myself. :3**

**Anyway guys, I love you all, have a happy holidays, and I'll see you next year!~ ;D Have a good year. :3**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	10. The Aftermath

**Yay, another chapter~ Continue~ -bows- By the way, the genre for this fanfiction is changing. From Pein x Sakura (sibling love) to Itachi x Sakura (Reeaaaalll Luuuuv)**

_Chapter 10: The Aftermath_

Sakura stood in front of the memorial stone.

"Sarutobi..." She muttered to herself, tracing Sarutobi's name in the stone.

_Now what will happen, since Sarutobi is gone?_

_**-o-**_

In the hospital was Sasuke, who was still trying to regain his strength. He was due to check out of the hospital in two hours, so he didn't have much longer to wait. In the time that he was doing nothing but laying down and trying to rest...he only thought of one thing.

_Sakura..._

"...ha Itachi is nearby?"

Sasuke tensed up.

"Shhh, the boy may hear you.."

"Nah, he can't hear me..."

"Che, if you think so..."

"So...do you think it's true?"

"I don't know, if he is here...where..."

"...heard he's in the Old District of Konoha..."

"Really? Why?"

"...Naruto."

Sasuke growled before throwing the covers off of himself. He slid the window open silently and slid out, making sure no one knew where he was going.

**-o-**

"W-What do you mean he's gone!"

"P-Please miss, calm do-"

"Calm down? Did you really just tell me to _**calm. Down!**_"

"A-Ah..."

Sakura seethed before she punched the closest wall to her, which, thankfully, wasn't a patient's room.

"You let my damn teammate escape?"

"Well...we can't exactly watch them every second of the day..."

Sakura growled and narrowed her eyes on the nurse before ripping her hand from the hospital wall. "Whenever the new Hokage is chosen...I _will_ be having a discussion with them about this damn hospital." The nurse cowered as the girl stalked out of the hospital, a dark, evil aura spewing from every pore on her body.

_Damn it, did he hear that Itachi is here...?_ Sakura thought to herself, thinking back to how the ranks of ninja were told, via messages from ANBU, that Uchiha Itachi was nearby and to be very careful. Of course, the lowest rank that was able to get this message were the Chunin, so the Genin didn't know of him being here.

Sakura cursed to herself again.

**-o-**

"Itachi!"

"Foolish Little Brother."

"Teme? What're you doing here?"

All three things were said at the same time, which caused a dark aura to arise from Sasuke, although the other two only felt an awkward silence. Only one prepared for a fight, while the other two stared. One stared with annoyance and boredom, and the other stared with confusion and worry.

**-o-**

"Oh Sasuke...I hope Naruto and Jiraya-sama hurry up..."

Sakura whispered to herself, brushing back Sasuke's bangs. The boy looked really pale, and every once in a while, his fever would spike.

The first time Sakura came to stay in his hospital room, the fever spiked up. The nurses had rushed in, although it had been late and so they needed help. Since Sakura was still there (although she should've left, but she'd already punched some of the nurses, just so they wouldn't drag her out...) they got her to help as well. So, whenever his fever spiked, Sakura didn't have to call the nurse—especially if it was night time. They had more important things to do...at least in Sakura's opinion anyway.

Sakura sighed and laid her head down over his head, resting her forehead onto his forehead.

"They say that you may or may not ever wake up." Sakura opened her eyes, staring at the part of Sasuke's face that she could see. "But I know you'll wake up." Sakura smiled before climbing up onto the bed and softly scooting Sasuke over. She climbed under the covers and fell into a dreamless sleep.

**-o-**

The next morning, the door was opened softly by one of the nurses.

"S-Sakura-san?" The woman murmured, taking in the sight of Sakura at the head of Sasuke's bed with his head on her lap.

Sakura looked up at the nurse. "Yes?"

The nurse looked to the floor for a few moments. "Would you like us to bring you some breakfast? Since you won't leave, and we can't have you starving yourself..." Sakura smiled.

"If you wouldn't mind."

**-o-**

_It's been two weeks now..._

Sakura sighed to herself. She brushed his bangs. "I need to cut your bangs sometime soon, don't I, Sasuke..." She muttered to herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke's finger twitched towards her direction.

**-o-**

The nurse came in a week later with some visitors. "Good evening, Sakura. I assume Sasuke's been well? I haven't had to check on him in a while, which is why I'm asking." Sakura ignored the nurse for a few minutes.

"He's doing..." her voice trailed off as she looked down at the comatose boy.

The nurse understood. "I see. I came to tell you that there are visitors for Uchiha-san. Can I bring them in?"

Sakura nodded softly. "Sure.."

The nurse nodded and walked out. The next time Sakura saw the nurse, she came back with Shikamaru and Ino.

"Sakura..." Ino muttered to herself, seeing Sakura's pitiful form. The nurse bowed and fled, finding her cue.

Sakura's eyes, that once held that joyful shine, were dull and were almost the color of gray. Her hair was greasy and her bangs were pulled back with a bobby pin. She was wearing the clothes from a few days ago.

"Here." Ino said, placing a few pairs of Sakura's clothes onto the nightstand. Sakura didn't even glance at them.

"More of my clothes, I assume?" Sakura asked coldly, causing Ino to sniffle lightly.

"Y-Yeah." Shikamaru grabbed onto Ino's hand and squeezed, trying to comfort her. Ino squeezed back and let go.

"Thank you." Sakura said, surprising Ino.

Ino was silent before she walked up to Sakura and hugged her softly. "I'm sorry."

Sakura sighed and looked to Shikamaru, Ino still on her shoulders. "Shikamaru, can you...leave us for a minute?"

Shikamaru stiffened but nodded and walked out of the room. Ino clutched harder onto Sakura.

Sakura stood up, having been sitting on the side of Sasuke's bed, and hugged Ino back.

"I'm sorry, Ino. I'll go home after Sasuke wakes up. Please tell that to Anko-chan as well." Sakura said, petting Ino's long pony-tail softly.

Ino didn't say anything for a while. "You love him, don't you?"

Sakura stiffened. "I do." Her voice cracked, and she cursed herself mentally.

Ino jerked back and looked at Sakura shocked. Sakura had tears in her eyes. _I can't...cry...not now._

"Sakura..."

"I can't love him, though!" Sakura almost yelled, though she managed to keep it quiet. "I...I told myself that I wouldn't love _anyone_ until I got my memories back..." Sakura said, her voice cracking even worse. Her throat seemingly closed up and she knew she had tears rolling down her face. She wrapped her arms around herself, which means that she had to let Ino go.

"Sakura..."

"I just...I just couldn't stop it. I feel like I'm losing him now, Ino." Sakura looked at Ino, her eyes red and slightly puffy.

"Oh, Sakura. You won't lose him. You know he's too god damn strong for that." Ino said, patting Sakura's cheek before grinning and flicking a hand away from Sakura, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, Billboard Brow, he's got _you_ to look after him. He'd be in for _hell_ if he even thought about leaving you."

Sakura laughed and patted Ino's shoulder. "I think you're right, Ino-pig. Thanks." Ino laughed and the girls hugged again.

A knock resounded on the door, before the door slid open to reveal Shikamaru.

"Uh...are you two done yet?"

Sakura and Ino looked at each other before erupting into laughter.

**-o-**

"Hey, I heard they finally found our Hokage!"

"What, really?"

"Yeah!"

"Who is it?"

"I don't know, but I heard rumors..."

"Oh really? Well, do tell!"

"I heard that it's..."

Sakura cursed. _Damn it, I wanted to know who it was..._

"Sakura-chan." A voice said behind her. She gaped at the voice, although she didn't turn around. She was sitting on Sasuke's bed, still.

She slowly turned around and gaped.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She called out before slowly climbing off of the bed. She took her time getting to Naruto, who was grinning at her.

Whenever she was finally in front of him, she reached out and touched his face. Tears sprung to her eyes the moment she touched skin.

"N-Naruto!" She exclaimed before hugging him tightly, basically choking him.

"Hey now, I don't want someone else to heal." A woman's voice called out behind Naruto. Sakura let go of Naruto and looked behind him.

"Ah, this is Tsunade-baa-chan." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura gaped at her before looking at Naruto. She narrowed her eyes and backed away. Naruto's eyes widened whenever she cocked a hip and put her hands on her hips.

"Uzumaki Naruto, just _what_ have I told you about being disrespectful?" Sakura said, a growling undertone in her voice. Naruto clambered to come up with an excuse before Sakura nearly snorted at him, basically telling him that he'll be beat later...

"Tsunade-sama." Sakura said before bowing slightly to the older woman.

Tsunade looked at her amused. "Why're you bowin' to me, girl?" She said, giving Sakura a observing look.

Sakura stood up and smirked at her. "I know exactly who you are. So I don't have to say it later, I'm telling you thank you in advance."

Tsunade looked at her with a confused but confident look. "Thanks for what?"

Sakura's good mood then dropped and her face returned to the pale, drawn back expression. She turned around and basically ghosted towards Sasuke.

Naruto gaped at the expression on her face.

"S-Sakura-chan..." He began, going to ask her what was wrong, but Tsunade put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she had a sad look on her face. She shook her head and he shut his mouth.

"Please leave us alone, Naruto." Tsunade said softly. Naruto tensed but slowly walked out of the room.

"Can you help him, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked the woman softly, hoping—_praying—_that she could help Sasuke.

Tsunade, usually, would have smirked and asked why she was being questioned...but now..

"Of course I can, Sakura-san." Tsunade said softly before putting a hand onto Sakura's shoulder.

"I don't want to lose him." Sakura said, her eyes widened at the mere thought of it.

Sakura didn't catch it, but Tsunade did. After Sakura said that, Sasuke's hand twitched.

Tsunade's eyes widened and she moved Sakura over softly.

"Keep talking about your feelings for him, Sakura." Tsunade ordered, causing Sakura to blush and stutter.

"W-Wha-I-uh-"

"Don't question me, Sakura, just do it!" Tsunade ordered, her hand glowing green as she placed a hand onto Sasuke's forehead.

"I...Tsunade-sama, I think I love Sasuke." Sakura said softly. Tsunade nearly jerked in shock at what she saw.

"What in the..." Tsunade muttered.

"W-What is it, Tsu-"

"Keep talking!" Tsunade ordered.

"Alright then..." Sakura muttered before sitting on the bed and grabbing onto Sasuke's hand. She lightly brushed her fingers over the back of his hand before flipping his hand over and brushing her fingers over his palm. After a minute, she began to just mess with his fingers. Tsunade was shocked at this.

"I...I don't want to lose you, Uchiha Sasuke..." Sakura said softly. She gaped and jerked whenever she felt Sasuke's hand tighten on hers.

"Almost there..." Tsunade muttered to herself, taking note of the two kid's relationship.

"But...I can't love until I get my memories back, damn it." Sakura said harshly, wishing that she could remember what she had lost.

Tsunade cursed and briefly glared at the girl. "Damn it...I was almost there to..."

"Talk to him again. But this time..._Don't_ talk negatively." Sakura looked at her sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Tsunade snorted but dropped it.

Sakura reached up and began to caress Sasuke's cheeks. Every once in a while, she'd accidentally brush against his bottom lip, which made her heart and stomach to backflips and spring butterflies.

Tsunade nodded, saying that it was enough. Sakura was glad she didn't have to talk again. Otherwise...

Sakura noticed that Sasuke's eyelids were twitching like crazy.

"What's happening, Tsunade-sama..."

Tsunade remained quiet as she concentrated.

"Almost...Almost..."

"What..."

Sasuke's eyes flashed open. He looked around confused for a moment before he looked straight in front of him.

The moment Sasuke's eyes began to twitch open, Sakura and Tsunade took their hands off of him. Sakura stayed on the bed and leaned over him. She had her left hand over beside his ribcage on the other side of the bed, so she could lean over him comfortably.

"Sasuke.." Sakura said softly to herself.

Sasuke watched her for a moment, his eyes soft and seemingly to take in Sakura herself. Tsunade watched as the two seemingly were drew to each other.

_Oh how love lingers..._She thought to herself, thinking of...

_Dan..._

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes became harsh and he glared at Sakura. "Why are you in my face, Haruno?"

Sakura jerked back alarmed—she felt like he had just slapped her. She looked at him horrified.

Tsunade slapped her hand onto her forehead.

"Oh for Christ's sake..." She muttered to herself

**-o-**

An hour later, Tsunade assured Sakura that it was fine for Sasuke to eat, so Sakura cut up and apple and placed it onto a small plate. She traveled to his room and took in a large gulp of air.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called into the room.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted out, basically ignoring her.

Sakura sighed and pulled up one of the chairs to be closer to his bed. She bit her lip and held out the plate of apples.

"Here. You haven't ate any solid foods in almost a month. The nurse said that she'll get you some more food later, but for right now-"

"Annoying." Sasuke grunted, not bothering to look at his "source of annoyance" as he thought of her.

"W-What?" Sakura asked, taken aback.

Sasuke glared at Sakura, the _three_ tomoe in his Sharingan spinning full force. If Sakura hadn't been so emotionally drained, she would have smacked him in the face for even flashing his Sharingan at her.

"You're annoying, Sakura."

Sakura gaped at him, the plate still slightly held out towards him. Sasuke glanced at the apples, turned his Sharingan off, then went back to staring at his hands.

Sakura sat there shocked, whenever Sasuke's voice shook her. "Leave me now, Sakura."

"B-But, you need..." Sakura froze when she saw the fury on his face. He hit his arm on the plate of apples, sending it to the floor and the apples onto the wall.

Sakura's face closed up then.

"Itachi showed me _exactly_ what I need." Sasuke growled, glaring at her even harsher than before.

"Itachi..." Sakura muttered, a distant look overcoming her face. Her eyes narrowed then. "God damn it..." She said before standing and gathering the apples onto the plate. She stood behind her chair.

"Leave, Sakura. I won't repeat myself." Sasuke said coldly, looking out the window. Whenever he didn't hear her leave, he whipped his head around only to come to a disturbing sight.

Sakura was visibly shaking, and her eyes were down shadowed, although he knew she was pissed. He tried not to look scared—he really did.

Her fists shook at her sides. Blood trickled down her fist and her knuckles were snow white.

He heard her teeth grinding and he felt her dark aura. She used her right fist and punched the wall, causing a hole the size of her head to form.

"God damn it!" Sakura yelled out before she turned towards Sasuke. Sasuke tensed, awaiting what she would do. "What the hell, Sasuke! I waste away _a damn month_ of my life, and all I get for thanks is you being a bitch to me?" Sakura growled out before she was suddenly beside his bed. She growled in his face and pulled him closer to her via his hospital gown. "I cannot believe you—and I _love_ you? FUCK. YOU." Sakura yelled in his face before she threw him down—nearly throwing him off of the bed—and stomped her way to the door.

Sasuke's face was pale as he basically cowered. _She...She loves...me?_

**-o-**

Tsunade stood outside the door of Sasuke's room. Whenever Sakura came stomping out of the door, she stopped Sakura. Sakura growled at her and asked her what she wanted. Tsunade smirked.

"Do you...want to spar?"

Sakura only gave a feral smile as her answer.

**-o-**

For hundreds of yards, you would probably see nothing but either gigantic holes or trees punched down by small hands, smashed rocks...

The two girls were panting and tired whenever they were done.

"So, what'd he do to piss you off so bad?" Tsunade asked her hoarsely.

Sakura chuckled. "What _didn't_ he do?"

"Well...think about it from his point of view." Tsunade suggested before laughing at Sakura's confused expression. "Sasuke just got his ass handed to him from his older brother—who he wants to kill, no less. So, his pride is killed there. Not only that, but he wakes up to a _girl _trying to help him. In a hospital. He isn't going to be a happy camper when he wakes up."

Sakura stiffened and she collapsed to the ground, her knees finally giving out.

"God damn, Tsunade, you have some awesome techniques."

Tsunade smirked. "Why thank you, Sakura. How about I teach you some of them?"

Sakura looked up at Tsunade hopefully.

"If you'd like..I can also train you to be a medic.." Tsunade let her voice carry off. She saw Sakura's unsure but somehow confident expression. "I'll give you a week to think on that, but otherwise, I can show you my secret..."

**-o-**

That night, Sakura had a visitor...

Itachi slid into Sakura's room, although she kind of expected it. He took in her disheveled figure. She had on loose clothes and there was an ice cream carton on her nightstand. The carton, of course, was empty and there was a single silver fork in the carton.

"A fork?" Itachi asked, sitting at the foot of Sakura's bed. She didn't even glance up at him.

"I..." Sakura didn't know what to do. _Should I...just confront him about it?_

"What did you do to him, Itachi?" She asked him hoarsely. Itachi looked at her confused. "I am not stupid, Uchiha, so stop acting naïve about it." Sakura said, now looking Itachi in the eye.

Itachi tensed before narrowing his eyes at her. "How..."

"Like I said, I'm not stupid. I figured it out on my own." She stood up and cocked a hip at him and put her hands on her hips. "So, Itachi, just _what_ did you do to my teammate?"

Itachi was silent before he stood up. "He is bent on killing me. What did you expect me to do—just let him kill me?"

Sakura stayed silent before she collapsed on the ground. "Oh god, Itachi...I don't know what to do anymore." Sakura sniffled and pulled her knees up to her chest, where she wrapped her arms around her knees and laid her head onto her crossed arms.

"First of all, there's the fact that I can't remember anything about my life. Then Sarutobi dies. Which brings back the nightmares of the second exams.." Sakura let out a choked sob. "Then I get all these weird emotions and feelings at random..." She let out a quiet sob.

Itachi was quiet. _Emotions at random..? Could that be Pein...?_

"Do you want me to leave, Sakura?" Itachi asked her softly, seeing her shaking form. She tensed and tried not to look up at him.

"No. Please, dear god Itachi, don't leave me. Don't leave me...Don't leave me, not like..." Sakura muttered before she began to mutter random nonsense.

"Not like who, Sakura?" Itachi asked, before getting onto the floor and crawling over to her. He stayed on his hands and knees in front of her, his head tilting to the side, making his hair spill over his shoulder.

"I...I don't know." Sakura sobbed once more before she finally threw her self onto Itachi. "Oh god!" Sakura sobbed into Itachi's shoulder, which was tense.

"Sakura..."

**-o-**

"...Damnit!" Pein yelled out, a pout upon his lips. Konan came into the room and looked at him. "Damn Itachi...I wanted to help calm Sakura-chan down..." Pein pouted again before crossing his arms over his chest and turning away.

Konan laughed at him and came into the room. "What's wrong with her?" Konan asked in all seriousness.

"She's emotionally overwhelmed."

"Oh..." Konan said softly before walking back out of the room.

"S-Sakura-chaaaan..." Pein whined.

Distantly, he heard a certain fish man laughing at his agony. "Damn them..."

**-o-**

The next day, Sakura went to the hospital, hoping to apologize to Sasuke. When she opened the door...she cursed.

_Damn it, they let him get away again...!_

Sakura cursed to herself. "Damn it, where is he..." suddenly, Sakura got a thought. She disappeared into smoke as she appeared at Naruto's ramen shop. She narrowed her eyes and walked up to Teuchi, who greeted her kindly.

"Well, good evening, Sakura-chan! Have you seen Naruto? He's usually here by now." Teuchi said, his face twisting up with concern. "He's not on a mission is he? Usually he'd at least come by..."

Sakura growled under her breath.

Both of the boys are gone...Sasuke can't leave the hospital, although I guess he's already proved that the hospital has no security or anything...

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Fuck!" She yelled before she waved by to Teuchi and ran to the hospital. Using the chakra in her feet, she climbed up the hospital on her feet. As she got closer to the roof, she heard arguing and what seemed like fighting. Five feet from the top, she heard chirping birds. Sakura's eyes widened.

_Shit! They're not..._

Sakura finally reached the top, only to see Naruto and Sasuke with their advanced techniques out—the Rasengan and the Chidori.

Sakura's eyes widened and she ran towards them "I'LL KILL YOU BOTH." Sakura yelled out, causing the two boys to look at her. She was too close to them, they both thought. The boys had enough momentum that they couldn't stop.

Once Sakura got into range, everything seemed to slow, and she knew what to do.

Sakura grabbed Sasuke's wrist and she punched Naruto in the face. She was sure that she heard some facial bones on Naruto crack. Sakura held onto Sasuke's wrist until the Chidori dissolved into nothing.

Sasuke looked at Sakura wide eyed.

"Sakura.."

"Don't you dare call my name, Sasuke!" Sakura hissed to him, which made him wince.

"First you act like a total dickwad to me, for trying to help you, and now...now you're trying to _kill_ our other teammate?" Sakura used her other hand to clutch onto his shirt's collar. She pulled him towards her and growled in his face. "I understand that your pride is hurt. Really, I can understand. But this rivalry? I don't understand it. You idiot. There's absolutely no rea-"

"You're mine, Haruno!" Sasuke yelled suddenly, interrupting her rant. He crushed his lips onto hers and, dare she say it, she liked it.

_No, I can't..._Sakura hushed herself and instead enjoyed the moment before she remembered what had just happened and what she was doing.

She pulled away and pushed him away from her. "Damn it, Sasuke." She cursed at him, before going and standing at the edge of the roof.

Sasuke came up behind her and gently—almost as a caress—moved the hair from around her neck and right ear. "I love you, Haruno." He said before suddenly disappearing.

Sakura let out a choked sob.

"Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked. She didn't even turn around.

"Take Naruto to one of the advanced doctors. I broke some of the bones in his face." Sakura said before disappearing into nothing. Kakashi sighed and shook his head. _Is Team 7 over….?_

**-o-**

Later that night, Sakura was out taking a leisurely stroll. Her emotions were in a total and complete wreck, and Itachi had suggested that she go walking so she could clear her head before training began.

_Geez, we haven't trained in a long time...over a month now, I do believe._ Sakura hummed out in her mind, slightly worried about how much pain she was going to be in in the morning. _Oh god..._

Suddenly, she felt a familiar chakra.

She disappeared from her spot and appeared behind the chakra, although not too close.

"Sasuke. Going somewhere?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow but otherwise cold face.

Sasuke stopped walking and didn't even bother to turn around. "Hn." He grunted, before beginning to walk off.

Sakura sighs. "Look Sasuke…" Sasuke turns his head and looks at her, a confused but yet annoyed expression on his face. Sakura keeps her head down as she stares at the ground. "I told myself, a long, long time ago, that I would not fall in love with someone until I got my memories back." She looked up at him, and he saw the softness in her eyes that seemed to be reserved for only him.

Sasuke smiled softly before he disappeared. Sakura's life then went into slow-motion.

Sasuke appeared behind her, moved her hair away…and that's when time sped up again.

"Thank you." He said before hitting the back of her neck. Of course, Sakura could have flickered away, but she knew that Sasuke wouldn't hurt her…and he didn't.

Sasuke walked away that night, thinking about what he had said. Unknowingly to Sakura, Sasuke had finished his sentence in his head. _"Thank you" for being there for me and showing me what love really is. _His next thought was slightly darker, although the intent was the same. _I'll have you one day, Haruno Sakura. And you'll love me back._

**-o-**

Sakura woke up the next morning on the couch in the hospital lobby.

"W-Wha-" Sakura murmured, trying to raise into a sitting up position with a hand on her head.

"Oh! You're awake!" A slightly cheerful yet surprised voice called out before Sakura saw a black headed woman beside her, kneeled down beside the couch.

"Who…"

"Oh, I'm Shizune." Shizune smiled at the confused girl. "Tsunade-sama went to the hospital to help _fix_ some of the problems there…" Shizune saw a flash of emotion in Sakura's eyes, which Shizune took as either amusement or a look that could only be described as 'finally.' "and so she left me to look after you until you wake up, in which I'm supposed to take you to Tsunade…who we'll have to find, of course…" Shizune sighed.

Sakura giggled and nodded. "Alright" she said, although her mask was crappily placed, if she could say so.

_Masks are so convenient. I'll wait to cry until later…first, I have to report to Tsunade-sama._ Sakura thought to herself, although once Shizune had her back to her, Sakura felt her eyes burn with that familiar feeling. _Damn, what's up with me and my emotions going so out of wack?_

Sakura sighed and dragged a hand through her bangs, which seemed to wilt back onto her forehead. Sakura sighed once more, but much quieter. She didn't notice Shizune's glance back at her.

_Poor girl…I wonder what happened?_

**-o-**

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called out, catching a glimpse of the called-for woman in the hallway, rushing towards different rooms.

The woman halted in the hallway. "Shizune, I told you stay with-oh." Tsunade stared dumbly at Sakura before she rubbed her temples and basically trotted up to them.

"How are you feeling, Sakura?" Tsunade asked Sakura carefully, actually quite curious about why she was laying on a bench close to one of the gates.

Sakura shrugged and looked around, wondering why she didn't see any of the nurses bustling around.

"Ok, I guess." Sakura mumbled softly.

Tsunade sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. "Ya' know what? I'm going to be blunt." Tsunade crouched down to Sakura's height, which was just a little shorter than Tsunade's, although not by much. "What were you doing on a bench, almost outside of Konoha?"

Sakura blinked in confusion. _He put me..on a bench? _

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Sakura's reaction. _Don't tell me she's lost her memory somehow…_

Sakura finally answered after a moment of slight awkward silence. "Uchiha Sasuke has left the Hidden Village of the Leaf." Sakura stated sourly, her eyes narrowed into Tsunade's own eyes, although Tsunade knew the anger wasn't pointed towards her.

Tsunade felt a twinge in her heart. _Her team and my team are just like the way we were….history really does repeat itself._ Tsunade mentally shook her head and put a hand onto Sakura's shoulder, although the girl tensed at the contact.

"Do your best and write me a report on everything. I want everything that was said and every action. I want every single observation, and I do not want _anything_ left out." Tsunade's eyes flickered and Sakura tensed. "Am I understood?"

Sakura nodded and Tsunade grinned.

"Welp, since that's out of the way…how about a spar, Sakura?" Tsunade asked, cracking her knuckles. Sakura grinned and almost cackled her response, which, of course, was a 'yes, if you can handle me.'

Tsunade and Sakura walked away, a sort of rivalry electricity between them whenever Tsunade threw to Shizune "Oh, by the way, since you have nothing better to do, can you man the hospital?"

Shizune nodded, since she knew that that wasn't really a question. "Sure but…where's the other nurses?"

Tsunade sent her a smirk, although Shizune could hardly see it since they were just turning a corner. "Oh, I gave them all a free day."

Shizune paled and almost screamed in anger, stress, and, most of all, annoyance.

**-o-Yamanaka Compound-o-**

The head of the Yamanaka family, Inoichi Yamanaka, was eating breakfast with his beautiful daughter and his absolutely gorgeous wife. For the past few months, Inoichi has tried to get information out of his daughter's, Ino, head.

The girl witnessed something in the pink-haired ones head. _I think her name was Sukaru?...no no no, that's not it…Saku…? …Sakura? Yeah, that's it! Sheesh._

Ino wouldn't tell him, she'd only say "I don't remember, Tou-san." With a blank, almost pain filled face, before she'd return to her old self and act like he didn't just ask her that.

A theory has been forming in his mind since the preliminaries…_Could it be some kind of advanced Genjutsu?_

"Ino, I'm going to have a conversation with the new Hokage, Tsunade-sama, and ask her for permission to go into Sakura's mind and find out just what the hell is wrong with the girl's head." Inoichi stated casually at the breakfast table.

Ino dropped her cup of tea. "W-Wha-" Suddenly, her face turned into that blank, almost pain filled face that Inoichi had come to know whenever it came to this subject. It was almost like whenever certain words were hit, something clicked on in her mind and caused this… "You will do no such thing, Inoichi Yamanaka." Ino stated blankly, although there was this…weird, male under tone to it.

Inoichi stared at his daughter in confusion, while his wife paled and nearly fainted right there.

"Oh god, our daughter's possessed!"

**-o-**

In the Akatsuki lair, Pein was very amused at what the Yamanaka parents expressions were. Oh yes, Pein—no, _Nagato_ could see both of them just fine.

You see, whenever Nagato put that Genjutsu onto her mind, he made it so she only had one response whenever it came to the subject: **I don't know.** But, if Sakura's name was ever inputted into the question, then he would immediately be able to see and hear everything. If he wished, he'd even be able to talk through her lips, which was something completely new to him. It was like their lips were connected through chakra…which was the weirdest and most disgusting thought ever.

"_Oh god, our daughter's possessed!"_ rang throughout his mind and he let out a choked laugh.

"Oh man, that woman's hilarious." Both Pein and Nagato said, which caused Konan—who was doing a check up on Nagato—to look at him, Nagato, funny.

"Ok then.." Konan muttered to herself.

**-o-**

That evening, Inoichi Yamanaka traveled to the Hokage's tower, where he found Tsunade and Sakura sharing a pleasant conversation about nothing.

"Oi, what-" Tsunade began, but Inoichi's yell towards Sakura interrupted her.

"You demon!" he raged before visibly holding himself back from attacking her. He glared daggers at her, and she looked at him blankly and with slight confusion and, wait, was that…fear?

"Yamanaka, I demand an answer for this rash behavior, now!" Tsunade raved, slamming her hands onto her desk, causing papers to fly and, thankfully—sort of—not go out the window.

Inoichi jerked towards Tsunade and strolled up to her.

"That _demon_ behind me, who I refuse to name, has _fucked up my daughter's mind!" _Inoichi raved about, flailing his hands into the air at the last part.

Sakura and Tsunade stared dumbly at him.

"What?" Both girls deadpanned.

"In the Chuunin exams, whenever my daughter, Ino, entered the _demon's_ mind, whenever she came back…she was never the same." Inoichi said softly, almost, _almost_, wondering what Sakura's reaction would be.

_Oh…._That_ time…_ Sakura murmured to herself internally, wincing whenever Inoichi mentioned it.

"I, uh, what?" Tsunade asked stupidly, sitting down in the chair.

Sakura sighed and stood up, only to walk beside Inoichi who visibly cringed away from the slight distance between them. He literally moved over, not caring if either female took offense to it.

Thankfully, neither really cared.

"Can _you_ explain this whole mess to me, Sakura?" Tsunade asked with a wave of her hand towards Inoichi.

"Of course she can! She's the one who caused it!" Inoichi pointed to Sakura and glared at Tsunade and seethed.

"Shut up, Yamanaka!" Tsunade yelled at his outburst. He merely grumbled at her.

"During the preliminaries of the Chuunin exams, Ino Yamanaka entered my mind. Other than that, I really don't know what happened. I just remember being locked in a black room for the duration of her being stuck in my mind. For me, it felt like I was stuck in that room for hours, whenever I was only in there for a few seconds."

Sakura winced at the memory. "I couldn't see anything, but I could hear what seemed like little whispers. I heard screams, but I couldn't make them out. That's probably the closest you're going to get to information, Yamanaka-san." Sakura glanced to Inoichi to see that his face looked confused, as if the information was hard to take in.

"Whenever I came to, Ino was in front of me, drooling from the mouth."

Tsunade looked at Inoichi to see that his anger has diminished, but a dark look was still in his eyes.

"I want permission to go into _her_ mind and look for whatever Ino saw." Inoichi suddenly stated, standing his ground.

Tsunade gaped at him and stuttered. "W-Wait, w-wha-"

"No." Sakura stated suddenly, stopping Tsunade's stutter-fest.

"And why not?" Inoichi asked angrily, wondering why the Hokage was being silent during this ordeal.

"You saw what it did to Ino, what do you think it'll do to you, huh?"

"Oh, so now you suddenly know that it—or whatever it is—is an _it?" _Inoichi grinded out, causing Sakura to pause.

"Honestly, I can only assume that, since whatever it is shoved me from my own mind and basically locked me up into my own self conscious." Sakura glared at Inoichi who visibly flinched and looked away.

"Yeah, well…"

"If you really want to, though, then I won't stop you. After all, it's your own experience. I doubt you'll be able to remember whenever you come out , though. So…your choice." Sakura shrugged and Tsunade eyed her.

"You're getting all this from _assuming?_"

Sakura paused and thought for a moment. "Half way. I just get that feeling. I can't explain it—maybe a gut feeling?" Sakura shrugged and Tsunade eyed her.

"Honestly, I'm against it, but, Sakura, if you're ok with it—" with this statement, Sakura shook her head and muttered 'I am completely against it, but he'll fuss about it until he's able to, so whatever.' And Tsunade continued. "then I will allow this, but it has to be done the Yamanaka way, not the ANBU way." Tsunade said darkly, looking directly towards Inoichi who tensed.

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Inoichi then glared at Sakura briefly before turning his back to both of them. "I will give her an half hour to prepare. Until then, I shall be in the interrogation room."

Tsunade and Sakura tensed at the slam of the door and it remained silent in the room for a few minutes until Tsunade finally found her voice.

"Are you really going to go through with this?"

Sakura sighed and slouched in the chair that she just pulled up closer to the desk. "Of course I am, Tsunade-sama. I have to. You know he'd only bitch and complain until he finally got his wishes. He _is_ Ino's father, after all." Sakura went silent after this, reprimanding herself for insulting Ino in such a way.

Tsunade snorted. "You got that right. So, what do you want to do for half an hour?"

Sakura shrugged. "I dunno."

Tsunade sighed. _Well, there goes our conversation topics…_

Meanwhile, in Sakura's head, she was almost having a panic attack.

_Shit, if he's going to look through my memories, then he'll find out that I know Itachi!_ Sakura inwardly bit her lip. _Shit. I'm boned._

An amused chuckle echoed through out her head and she stiffened. _Wha-_ She thought to herself before a voice interrupted her.

_**You leave that to me. I'll make sure he forgets.**_

_You! Whoever you are, you're the one who made Ino like that, aren't you!_

_**Perhaps…**_

Sakura sighed outwardly and Tsunade followed her example.

"Welp, I think it's time for some sake for the new Hokage." Tsunade said happily, causing Sakura to sweat drop.

**-o-**

Half an hour later, Sakura was led to the interrogation room by the laughing, drunk Hokage.

"A-And then he said-"

"Hokage-sama, it's only your first day, and you're already drunk on the job?" Inoichi jabbed to Tsunade, who glared at him.

Sobbered up, she cracked a grin to the man. "Why of course, having to deal with irritations such as yourself tend to do that to me."

Inoichi narrowed his eyes.

_That was a really, _really_ bad mood, Tsunade-sama…_ Sakura thought to herself, her fists twitching ever so often by her side.

Ibiki—Sakura hurried to remember his name, since she'd, kind of, forgotten it…— was in the corner of the room and was over seeing the interrogation, as asked by Inoichi, Sakura guessed.

"Hokage-sama, you don't need to be in here at the time of the interrogation." Ibiki said coldly, although that was his normal voice…

Tsunade shrugged. "I _don't need_ a lot of things. Being told what to do it one of them." Tsunade replied coldly and Ibiki tensed up, apparently just remembering that he's talking to the new Hokage.

"Yes, my apologies, Hokage-sama." Ibiki muttered, bowing his head slightly. Tsunade let out a snort and Inoichi let out a scoff, but didn't say anything else.

"Sit down, Haruno." Inoichi said coldly, which made Sakura's eyebrow twitch.

_No one ever calls me by my last name, only…_the memory of Sasuke sprung into her mind and she had breathe in extremely deeply and bite her lip hard in order to not cry. She hadn't been given a chance to go home, and she hadn't even seen Naruto the whole day…

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. Apparently, before she had woken up, Tsunade had sent Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Chouji, and Kiba onto the mission of getting Sasuke back, since she assumed that's what it was.

How she knew, Sakura will never know.

"Well, shall we begin?" Inoichi said cruelly, as if asking a pig if he was ready to be utterly slaughtered.

Sakura's only response was a gulp before Inoichi began his jutsu.

Sakura's head was thrown back once Inoichi was flung into her mind, and she only let out a strangled gasp.

**-o-In Sakura's Mind/With Inoichi.-o-**

_W-What the…_ Inoichi thought to himself as he was bombarded with sudden memories of Sakura. He held onto his head. _It isn't usually this hard to adjust…_

Suddenly, all the memories abruptly stopped and he only saw a man—a _very_ sick looking man—on what looked like a throne.

"How peculiar, that's exactly what your daughter said." A man said, making Inoichi twitch.

"So it was _you_ who did that to my daughter?" Inoichi yelled, fury coursing through his veins.

The man chuckled and appeared at the bottom of what appeared to be a pile of…of bodies? Corpses? The man began to walk towards him, although as he did so, his form filled out and he became what Inoichi assumed he used to be—a very unique, lean, handsome man. _Or, at least, in women's minds _Inoichi thought to himself.

"Of course it was. She entered my sister's mind, and I couldn't let her out with that information." The man was suddenly in front of the gaping Inoichi. "Of course, now that you know as well…I'll have to do the same."

Inoichi fell to his knees, as if his body was ordered by someone else—he didn't voluntarily fall to his knees.

"W-Wha-"

The man's eyes narrowed, the rings in his eyes suddenly causing a shiver down Inoichi's spine.

"Oh yes, I'll have to do much worse things to you than I did to your daughter, Inoichi-kun." The man basically purred, making Inoichi's eyes widen.

"W-What'd you do to my daughter? And h-how'd you know my name?" Inoichi asked fearfully, suddenly aware of the choking feeling he was suffering.

He didn't have to wait long before the feeling no longer was a _feeling_ and became his current _reality._ The man's hand wrapped around his throat, the silver ring glinting in a light that neither man could grasp.

"Why, I know everything that my dear sister knows." The man's eyes darkened whenever they took in Inoichi's fearful but angry face. "I'm through with talking. Now, you will suffer. And you will forget."

Forget is exactly what he did.

**-o-**

When Inoichi woke up in front of Sakura's chair, he nearly let out a girlish scream.

"G-Get away from me!" He yelled out in agony, fearful of what the creature in front of him might do.

Sakura sighed as she began to readjust being in the outside world. She stared at Inoichi with a twitching eyebrow. "I told you this would happen." She muttered before suddenly Inoichi just totally shut down. He slumped to the ground and drool slithered it's way out of his mouth. Sakura sighed and began to walk out of the room.

"Sakura…" Tsunade muttered, now wondering what was in Sakura's head.

Meanwhile, Sakura merely walked away, the wind blowing random bits of her hair.

Unknown to everyone, at the moment, her emerald eyes had very light rings of black around them, although in the next second, they changed back to emerald.

_It seems some things have….__**Changed.**_

**-o-**

**A/N Squeee! Ding ding ding! Prepare for the next arc! Boo-yeah, we're in arc three!**

**I have a few things that I need to clarify. I feel like people may be confused about them a little bit, so I'll go ahead and explain them, even though no one has asked me a question about them…**

**Firstly, in chapter 8, I gave Sakura a cloak. We'll say that she only wears it out on missions, which, as you can tell, she hardly does(any missions, I mean). I usually skip missions, which is why you never see any….**

**Anyway, that cloak is kind of significant. It isn't significant to the plot line or anything, but it's significant to the Akatsuki. Do you remember now? -smirks- That's right, that's the cloak that she would have to wear around the Akatsuki if she was with them now. She's still a potential member, and whenever the Akatsuki see that cloak, they know not to kill her. So that's why she wears it on missions, although she doesn't see it that way. But the Akatsuki do, and so she will never be killed by the Akatsuki. Yay~ -clears throat-**

**I seriously feel like I gave something away, but I really don't know why…hm…anyway.**

**Next, I noticed that Sakura doesn't really react about Sarutobi's death. She really does, and it's a major reason why she broke down in front of Itachi. In fact, she still needed to. We'll say that once she got home from being "interrogated by Inoichi" she begins to sob and to break down again. Just this time, it's without Itachi. =(**

**Uhm…there were a lot of things I wanted to explain, but I've forgotten them all..except for one. **

**Uh, the reason why I bolded the word "Changed" at the end is because it's basically the title of the arc. Well, it's a tense of it…the real title is Changing, but still. Lol. If I didn't show a lot of changing, sorry. Lol. But that's what it was supposed to built up to or whatever. **

**Oh, I remember something that I wanted to explain! **

**Ya' know, I'm being really nice to you guys. I mean, I could totally just not explain anything and just explain it all in the story (although I have a feeling that I'd forget it all…) but still. You guys are lucky. **

**Anyway, the voice in Sakura's head is, in fact, Nagato. That's what it sounds like to her whenever he speaks. And that's what it sounds like for Nagato whenever Sakura speaks. I kind of gave off hints that pointed to that, because I said something along the lines of him hearing voices in his head, which was the Yamanaka's…he cast the Genjutsu and made the effects of it a lot like his Rin'negan connection with his sister. Uhm…that should, actually, explain all of that. The voice that whispers in her head is Nagato speaking out loud. I'll repeat. OUT LOUD. So they can't talk telepathically. This is just some new Rin'negan ability that no one's known about—not even Rokudou Sennin. -grins-**

**Ok, I hate long paragraphs. Anyway…**

**OH MAH GOD. I HAVEN'T HEARD THIS SONG IN FOREVAAAHHH. It's Believe by Cher. Oh mah gawd. **** AnyWAY. **

**Let's see…what now..oh yes, the review replies~ for Chapter 09**

**TDI-Ryro-Eclares:** Ahaha, I thought it was to. ;D Did I do the fight scene good? …Any advice on it, or…is it fine the way it is? o

**Sakuraloveblossom:** Yeah, me neither…lawl. And same to you: Happy New Year!~ lol.

**Nao-chi:** You're welcome!~ lol. And thanks, I actually like the Gaara vs. Sakura battle as well. O.o and yes, Kaka-sensei is rather adorable, although I have no idea where that came from….lol. and, uh, as you can tell with this chapter…it wasn't exactly a cliffhanger..because I decided to just…cut it there, so yeah. Lol. Sorry if anyone else was really wanted to see that. DX

**LilithiaRW:** Thanks! And, uh…honestly, I have no idea either. Ahahaha. I'd love to make this ItaSaku…b-but…it..just doesn't fit. D= You'll see what I mean later, but for right now, there is no pairing, even though I REALLY want it to be ItaSaku…..No pairings can really happen right now, so…yeah…I can see what I can do though…V_X

…**Really guys? Only four reviews…? …T_T This makes me sad. Oh well…lol.**

**I don't really have any rants of my own, so yeah…**

**I love you all, and thanks everyone for reading and at least _attempting_ to review a decent amount of times…lolol. I love you all! **

**~/Takai-sama\~**

**XOXOXOXO**


	11. The Skip

**NOTE! THIS IS THE NEW CHAPTER 11, SO READ IT! (This goes to those who read the old Chapter 11, which if you're a new reader, then don't worry about it.)**

_Chapter 11: The Skip_

The three years during Naruto and…Sasuke's…absence had been a…a long and horrible one…

Missions and tests have flown by and friends have come and gone. Teammates have become more and more distant, regardless of the letters that are scarcely received by one person.

_Naruto…_

Sakura tucked her legs underneath her more securely, to secure the warmth that they granted her and to keep that heat _within_ her own legs. She let her eyes drift down to the flat below her. The flat below her belonged to Kakashi, who, rather recently, moved down there. Sakura let a smile crack her face.

Anko moved in with Kakashi the moment he was settled down there, saying that the two girls could talk _a lot_ more this way. Well, it beat having Anko halfway across town...maybe.

Sakura looked up to the sky, where a beam of sunlight was peaking through the clouds, resting on top of the Hokage tower.

_Sasuke's been gone for three years and Naruto left half a year later. _Sakura pouted before she laid down on the window sill, which jutted out just for this reason. She moved her right foot in a left and right motion, moving them to a tune that played through out her head as she hummed to it softly.

Suddenly a knock resounded throughout the apartment and Sakura eyed the door before she threw herself off of the sill and walked calmly over to the door. She fingered the kunai in her kunai pouch before grabbing one and holding it out in front of her. She opened the door and found Kakashi in front of her.

She blinked. "K-Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, wondering what he was doing here.

His eyes closed in that grin of his and her eye brow twitched automatically.

"Hello, Sakura-chan. I recall telling you to stop calling me sensei." Kakashi said, now walking into her apartment. Sakura stood there for a split second before she closed the door behind him and put her hands onto her hips.

"What, does it make you feel _old,_ Ojii-san?" Sakura asked teasingly, poking his shoulder as she walked past to head to the kitchen.

Kakashi feigned hurt. "Oh Sakura-chan, how could you! You hurt this old man's heart!" He exclaimed, throwing himself onto his couch. He sprawled out on the couch, face-up, with his arm over his eyes. He paused for a second and moved his arm away from his face a bit and glanced at Sakura, who was humming and busying herself in the kitchen.

Kakashi pouted and sat up, resting his elbows onto his knees. He watched Sakura cook for a minute as he thought about his precious student.

_It's amazing how much that little girl grew…_Kakashi thought to himself, picturing an eight-year-old Sakura again. _ She's a special jounin now…she works at the academy AND at the hospital…_Kakashi held onto his face where his mask covered his mouth.

Kakashi looked away from Sakura then. _She's trying to smother her pain, I just know it…_

Kakashi cleared his throat. "So, Sakura-chan…" he began, watching as she turned her head slightly before she picked up the tray of tea and dango and began to walk towards him.

She tilted her head. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked.

Kakashi stared for a second before he smiled. "How's work?"

Sakura stared at him for a minute before she groaned and plopped down after putting the tray onto the table between them. She pouted and looked away from him.

"Which one?" She grumbled out, wondering why he was asking.

"Ah, either." Kakashi said, wondering what she'd tell him.

She eyed him for a second. "Well…I'm working at the academy as a fill-in for Iruka whenever he takes off from work, meaning he's on missions, and I'm working at the hospital full time, except whenever Iruka is out, then only part time." She grinned and looked at him. "Since no one tells me a schedule, I get to go in at any time I want to. Just so long as I show up for at least three hours for work on the days that I'm told."

Kakashi o'ed at her, already having known all of that. He raised an eyebrow at Sakura, who twitched.

Finally, she caved after a minute of silence. "Alright, so I also offered to take up my own team."

Kakashi's eyes widened and he stood up, his finger pointing at her, but before he could erupt at her, she said,

"A team of medics, Kakashi-sensei. We won't leave the village unless a large amount of medics are needed." Sakura then smirked at him whenever he deflated.

"It's only medics…you promise?" Kakashi asked softly, causing Sakura to grin.

"Yep. I promise." Sakura grinned once more before she held up the tray, causing Kakashi to groan at the sight of dango.

_Oh god. _More_ dango…_

**-o-**

"Saaakuraaaaa!" Tsunade yelled from her apartment, causing an ANBU to open her office door. She glared at him, her eyebrow twitching. The door twitched as he had the urge to flee, but he kept the feeling at bay.

"S-Shall I go get her for you, Hokage-sama?" The ANBU asked, a slight stutter at the beginning which stopped the moment Tsunade sent him a glare.

"Yes. Go get her. Now. Tell her I'm going to kick her ass, to!" Tsunade said with a slight pout on her lips. The ANBU nodded and fled to get the pink-haired jounin.

**-o-**

Sakura glanced at the clock, wondering when Kakashi would stop lounging around in her apartment and get to _his own_ apartment.

"Meh, Sakura-chan, why do you keep looking at the clock?" Kakashi asked lazily, wanting to get her riled up. _Maybe she'd like to train with me today…_ Kakashi thought off handedly.

"Waiting for you-" Sakura began sharply but was interrupted by a sharp knock on her door. She grabbed a kunai off of her table, where she had been sharpening all of her weapons, and held it in front of her.

Sakura opened the door quickly, ready to assault whoever it was, but she quickly halted whenever she saw the ANBU mask.

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Tsunade-sama says that she needs to see you." The ANBU said, expecting the girl to follow him to the office.

"Alright, give me a minute-"

"There's no time for that!" The ANBU said hurriedly, shifting on his feet. Sakura gaped at him before pouting and yelling at Kakashi to lock up once he leaves, if she isn't back yet.

She went outside and closed the door after her.

The ANBU disappeared once she jumped off of the railing. She didn't even glance back as she headed to her mentors office.

_I see she finally found my application….maybe._ Sakura smiled before she disappeared into a flock of eye-less ravens.

**-o-**

Upon appearing at the Hokage's office, she saw a pouting but yet seething woman. Her eyes widened as Tsunade sat petting Kuro—_her_ raven.

"Hey that's-!" Sakura started only to be silenced by her mentors glare.

Tsunade continued to pet Kuro, although now she was beginning to coo at him. She smiled, all traces of anger wiped from her face. She finally sighed and glanced at her student again, her eyes softening.

"Sakura, you're trying to hide yourself away again." Tsunade spoke up, causing Kuro to pause in his, uh, pleasure-filled motions and look at Tsunade before looking at Sakura.

Sakura opened her mouth to deny what Tsunade said, but the truth was that it was fact. Sakura shut her mouth and pouted.

"Choose Sakura. Continue helping at the academy, or take on full duty at the hospital, which includes having a relatively large team of medics at your finger tips and to help with patients and such." Tsunade turned in her chair to fully watch Sakura, who only sighed.

"Tsunade-shisou…" Sakura whined, wondering why her mentor was doing this. She suddenly glowered at Kuro weakly. _Why do I have the feeling that you began to _express_ your feelings about my working so much?_ Sakura pouted whenever Kuro squawked at her, causing her to snort.

"Yeah yeah…" Sakura muttered to herself before she looked to Tsunade. "Tsunade-shisou…you know that I can't choose…" Sakura whined again, stepping towards her desk.

Tsunade chuckled and as she spoke, she continued to softly pet the raven currently resting on her hand. "That's alright." Tsunade smirked at Sakura. "You'll be working at the hospital full time."

Sakura almost whimpered, if it wasn't for the fact that she _had_ applied to do so…

"Alright…" Sakura sighed out, causing her mentor to smirk.

"Alrighty then." Tsunade began before shooing Kuro off of her hand, in which he hovered above her. She reached down and grabbed up a file that was literally waiting to burst. Sakura eyed it cautiously. "This is a file of profiles for every single medic available in this village. Flip through them and decide what to do with them." Tsunade said before standing up and putting the monstrous file onto her desk.

Sakura winced at the loud sound it made, even after Tsunade tried to soften the "blow" by using chakra in her arms to slowly set it down.

Sakura, with her impassive face, stepped even closer to the desk and began to thumb through the files, her mind taking in all the information that it possibly could.

Tsunade looked at her student in awe and admiration. _I'm so proud of her…_

Sakura then glanced up to see Tsunade's softened look. She cleared her throat and watched at Tsunade's eyes lost their softness, although they didn't harden at all.

Sakura smiled lightly, trying to break the serious atmosphere. "Am I allowed to hold a sort of test for all of the hopefully-to-be medics?" Sakura asked, causing Tsunade to smirk.

"I was wondering what your solution would be." Tsunade smirked at her student. She held her hand up and Kuro landed onto her hand and squawked.

Tsunade sat back down and the smirk became a full blown smile.

"All medics will remain in the village for one month. All medics will be examined in that time. The more experienced ones will go first, allowing time for the less experienced ones more time to train."

Sakura's eyes lit up with excitement and understanding. "I see. When will we start this?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow at her mentor.

Tsunade smirked. "Today."

Sakura's eyes widened and she groaned.

"Go see Shizune in the hospital, she'll tell you what to do." Tsunade said before she shooed Sakura out of the office, who only glanced back at Kuro before leaving.

Tsunade looked and Kuro and let a small smile grace her lips. "Thank you for informing me about my student's love for work." Tsunade said, letting the bird down onto her desk, where he sat.

Suddenly, Tsunade saw the Sharingan eyes that she had grown accustomed to seeing whenever she and Kuro were alone.

"It is no problem at all, Tsunade-sama. Just please take care of her for me." Kuro then turned around and stared at the place that Sakura had been. "Make sure she doesn't do anything foolish, will you?" Kuro's eyes then turned invisible to Tsunade and the bird disappeared, leaving a single feather on Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade picked up the feather and softly caressed it. She then whispered to herself, "I'll make sure she won't do anything stupid…" her eyes then flashed up through the window, towards the sky. "Itachi."

**-o-**

Sakura sighed as she watched another medic expertly heal another fish to perfect health. She stood up and cracked her back. Shizune sent her an apologetic glance before returning to her own medic testing.

_Any medic could pass this…_ Sakura whined inwardly, her inward self stretching her legs and wanting to go outside and run.

_**But what you're looking at isn't if they heal the fish or not—you're looking at how **_**long**_** it takes for them to heal it. You look for any mistakes they make, and further more, if they are smart enough to keep the fish alive by moving chakra through the fish's gills to act like water. Look at the fish, Sakura-chan.**_ The voice inside Sakura's head murmured, causing her to blink and think about how logical that sounded.

She glanced down at the fish to see that it wasn't moving. The medic standing beside her was looking at the fish in question.

Sakura glanced at the medic. "Go back to training with your medic ninjutsu. Remember to meet back in the conference room in half an hour for your results." Sakura said before writing something down on her clip board and watching the medic sulk across the room and out the door. Shizune trotted over to her and watched as she did an exam on the dead fish.

Sakura sighed. "That last medic has brilliant medical skills." Then she looked up to Shizune. "She just forgot to keep the fish alive." Sakura deadpanned, causing Shizune to try to hold in her chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh at Sakura's smile.

Shizune's last medic had walked out the door with Sakura's last medic, so the two professional medics were free to do whatever for the next half hour. It was lunch break, because medics need their lunch to.

The door slammed open and Shizune and Sakura, startled, turned to the door quickly. The two girls saw their mentor and gulped. She looked….happy?

"The council and I have decided something." Tsunade said cheerfully.

Sakura and Shizune sweatdropped, thinking the same thing: _So that's why…the two factions finally agreed!_

Shizune and Sakura nodded at their mentor, motioning for her to continue.

Tsunade grinned. "At six tonight—in half an hour, mind you—I will be making an announcement. Every female ninja in this village with learn the most basic of medical ninjutsu. If they aren't able to…well, we'll leave them be and we won't force them to learn it." Tsunade glanced at the gaping girls after having been looking anywhere but those two.

"W-Wha-"

"T-Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelled, horrified. Tsunade and Sakura looked at her, Tsunade with a raised eyebrow and Sakura openly gaping. "What's the meaning of this? You know that most of the kunoichi's in this village won't even go for the act-" Shizune stopped abruptly to see Sakura's eyes widen and she turned to Tsunade, who glanced at her.

"You don't mean to show them…" Sakura began, trailing off since she didn't feel that she absolutely had to say what she was talking about.

Tsunade smirked. "Exactly."

Sakura's eyes widened and then she narrowed her eyes darkly at Shizune, although they were more playful than really angry. Shizune glanced between the two before she saw Sakura forming chakra in her hand.

Seconds later, a chakra blade was clutched in Sakura's hand.

Sakura got into a stance with it as she caused it to elongate into an actual katana, which Shizune gaped at and Tsunade looked at proudly.

"Very good, Sakura." Tsunade said appreciative before she turned and began heading out the door. She turned her head and smirked. "Head to the conference room. People are already flocking in there."

Sakura and Shizune nodded and began to walk towards the door. Their mentor was already down the opposite side of the hall, so they could talk freely…or, at least, relatively freely.

"I don't agree with this." Shizune said, causing Sakura to glance at her.

Sakura looked sheepish. "Honestly, I don't fully agree with it either, but since it's already passed, we might as well not fight the system." Sakura then stared straight down the hallway, where her eyes narrowed. _I have a bad feeling about this Act of theirs…_

Sakura and Shizune turned into the conference room to see that Tsunade had been right—they flocked in here like crows!

Sakura and Shizune stood at the stage, which caused the room to become silent.

"Hey Forehead, what's this about?" Ino called from around the middle of the room. Sakura smiled softly.

"Well, Pig," Sakura began, making some of the girls in the room snicker. "From what I understand, there's a new Act that's been passed by Tsunade AND the council." A magnitude of whispers spread throughout the room, as it was amazing whenever the two sides actually agreed with each other.

The female jounin and female ANBU, etc. were all there. Anko was staring at Sakura with a glint in her eye. All the female jounin and ANBU were leaning against the walls, while the Chuunin and Genin females were in front of the stage. Of course, some jounin and some ANBU females were in the crowd, but still.

Anko smirked. "So, Sakura-chan, what did they decide, hm?" Anko asked, pushing off of the wall and beginning to walk towards the stage. The other females parted like the Red Sea for her.

Sakura's face suddenly drew back and she glanced at Shizune nervously. "Uhm…well.."

Shizune sent a look at Sakura that said 'Nervous?' and Sakura's lips tilted down slightly. Suddenly, Kuro slid through the open doors to the conference room, and as he glided through the air, he squawked loudly, causing everyone to look up at him. Sakura smiled and held her hand up to him, which he gladly perched on. She held him to her chest and he rubbed his head against her collar bone. He turned around and stared at everyone, although no one could tell that, since they couldn't see his eyes.

Sakura smiled and cleared her throat. "All kunoichi's will be required to learn the most basic of medical ninjutsu." Cries of outrage echoed throughout the room but Sakura quickly said, "If you cannot perform medical ninjutsu, then that's just fine. Konoha is short of medics on the field, and we need as many of those as possible." Sakura then sighed softly whenever everyone went quiet.

Shizune nodded—she knew the condition of the hospital. Hundreds of great ninja have died in the past because they couldn't get medical attention in time. _I guess it is logical in some ways…_ Shizune thought to herself, looking out as TenTen stepped through the crowd, along with some of the other weapon-users.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" TenTen yelled out, causing Sakura to whip her head towards said girl.

Sakura smiled "TenTen-chan!" Sakura called out happily, causing a smile to spread out on TenTen's face, although it soon turned into a playful grin.

"So, how will medical ninjutsu help us weapon mistresses huh?" TenTen asked, causing multiple choruses of agreement to ring throughout the room.

Sakura smirked and she put her hand behind her back, drawing chakra into it. Sakura smiled at TenTen.

"I shouldn't ask, but I'm going to anyway. Do you have a katana on you—that you don't want anymore? Or that you just really don't care for?" Sakura asked for the purpose of giving her some time. TenTen smirked.

"Of course, why do you ask?" TenTen asked, drawing out an old katana that looked like it needed sharpening, although it was still in good condition. "I don't care about this katana; I have a lot more that are better than this one." TenTen stated, causing Sakura to murmur in sarcasm at how she had probably a thousand better than that one. TenTen heard her, but she only smirked at her.

"Good." Sakura said before she shifted slightly. "Attack me with that katana, TenTen." Her eyes became a darker emerald and Shizune knew what she was going to do. Shizune ushered people away from the two, which went ignored by both Sakura and TenTen.

TenTen smirked. "Alright then, but don't come crying to me if I hurt you." TenTen then shifted into an attack position.

Sakura smirked and also shifted positions, although she didn't move her hand from behind her back. Then, TenTen struck.

It was like slow motion for Sakura. TenTen let out a battle cry before she leapt forward and sliced at her with the katana. When Sakura didn't move, TenTen let out a strangled gasp because the katana was becoming very close to Sakura. At the very last second, everything sped up and Sakura used her elongated chakra katana to slide TenTen's katana in half.

TenTen paused and looked at her katana, which was in halves. One half was on the floor, the part that had touched Sakura's blade was literally smoking and showed signs of some minor melting.

TenTen looked up at Sakura to see that Sakura held the chakra blade onto her shoulder like someone would do a real blade.

Sakura smirked daringly. "This, my friends, is what a medic can learn once they grasp the basics." Sakura grinned then at the shocked faces of everyone. Shizune only rolled her eyes. Kuro had flown up and was now sitting on her left shoulder, since her blade was resting on her right shoulder.

TenTen continued to gap at her friend, which was also what the other girls were doing.

"So girls, how about it? Feel like learning about it now?" Sakura asked, smirking at the crowd.

Anko smirked at her almost-daughter and laughed out loud. "When's the training going to start, _Sensei?"_ Anko asked, causing Sakura to laugh out loud.

"We'll keep in touch." Sakura said, winking at her almost-mother. Anko only grinned.

**-o-**

"Well…that went better than I expected it to." Sakura hummed out as she and Shizune headed towards the Hokage tower. Kuro, still on Sakura's shoulder, squawked in agreement, making Sakura grin.

"You handled that…" Shizune went silent for a moment before looking away. "...ah, rather professionally." Shizune finished, glancing towards Sakura who was grinning from ear to ear.

Sakura didn't say anything, but she and Shizune were content with the silence that was building between them.

**-o-**

Sakura flung herself on top of her bed. She smiled to herself while she slowly petted Kuro's head and neck, causing him to crane his neck and to spread his wings. She glanced at him and smiled softly.

"So, Kuro-kun, are you a real summoning with your own voice, or do you only have Itachi's voice?" Sakura hummed out, curious as to the answer. She tilted her head whenever Kuro paused and shook her hand off of him.

"I…have my own voice." Kuro said gruffly. Sakura blinked. There was a definite difference. Itachi's voice, even through his raven, was smooth and dark. Kuro's normal voice, it seems, was gruff and harsh, as if he hadn't used his voice very often at all.

"I see." Sakura said softly before reaching towards Kuro again. Kuro, eager to be petted, squawked and shoved his head onto Sakura's reaching hand. "Why do you not talk a lot?" Sakura asked softly.

This time, Kuro didn't force Sakura to stop petting him. Kuro's voice trailed off and paused at random times as he said, "I am not used to ….speaking the language of you humans." Kuro tilted his head and Sakura scratched underneath his beak. "I am a raven, so my…" Kuro paused, thinking of the word.

"Primary?" Sakura said helpfully, causing Kuro to squawk in agreement.

"Yes, primary! My _primary_ language is…" Kuro paused for a moment, chewing over his to word his next sentence. "..is the language of the ravens."

Sakura nodded, already having figured this out.

Kuro cleared his throat and ruffled his own feathers. "It is…" Kuro shifted and eyed Sakura again, expecting her to fill in the word.

Sakura looked back at him and tilted her head. "Hard?" Kuro shook his head. "Odd? Unique? Special?" Kuro nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Yes! It is very _unique_ for a raven summoning, such as I, to even learn the language of your people—the humans." Kuro said proudly, causing his chest feathers to ruffle as he pushed out his chest. Sakura smiled and twirled her finger in his chest feathers, causing his chest to deflate as him to let out a pleasurable sigh.

Sakura smiled. "So other raven summoning don't know how to speak our language?" Sakura asked softly. Kuro popped open one red eye and looked at her steadily for a second before answering.

"No. I am one of the lucky ones. Itachi-sama helped me to learn how to speak your language." Kuro said, nodding proudly whenever Sakura's mouth opened in a slight 'o' at the thought of Itachi teaching a bird to speak. Kuro's eyes then seemed to gleam to Sakura. "Itachi-sama called me 'Karasu.'"

Sakura blinked at Kuro. "He called you…crow?"

Kuro winced. "Itachi-sama said that Karasu can mean either crow or raven…" Kuro's voice trailed on. Sakura paused in her petting and merely stared out into thin air.

"How…original." Sakura said softly, crinkling her nose. Kuro startled her by letting out a laugh that Sakura was partially familiar with.

The laugh was a full blown laughter though, and it was a mix between a dark and smooth laugh and a rough laugh.

Sakura blinked at Kuro.

Kuro finally calmed down and looked at Sakura with mirth in his eyes. "Can you really speak, Sakura?" The smooth voice spoke through Kuro. Kuro seemed to smirk, although Sakura couldn't tell.

Sakura blushed. _**Well..you **_**did**_** name him Kuro…because of the color of his feathers….**_**Black.**

Sakura let out a nervous chuckle before she got up from her perch on her bed and fled to the kitchen, all the while blushing and berating herself for fleeing from Itachi's teasing.

In the bedroom, a spiritual Itachi sat on the bed with Kuro latched onto his imaginary fingers. Itachi had a hand behind him, which he put all of his weight into. He was staring at Kuro, who was looking at the direction Sakura had gone.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh, Itachi-sama?" Kuro asked himself softly, causing Itachi to look towards Sakura as well.

Itachi only let a small smile graze his face. "No." Itachi said simply before he disappeared into a wisp of air as Kuro fluttered down to sit on Sakura's bed. Sakura walked in a second later and smiled at Kuro, a pink flush still lazing around on her cheeks.

Sakura had a plate of dango and a cup of tea with a small dish of tea, which was for Kuro.

"Feel like some dango?"

Kuro literally drooled. "Always."

**-o-**

"So, Sakura…how have you been holding up since I last saw you?" Ibiki said calmly.

Sakura shrugged carelessly and threw her feet onto her table in front of her. Ibiki sighed and sat back in his chair, a small pout set upon his lips.

Sakura eyed Ibiki for a second. "I haven't had any 'hallucinations' as you guys like to call them." Her eyes flickered away from Ibiki to an invisible speck on the wall. "Of course, even if I had, I wouldn't tell you." Sakura let a smirk out as she glanced at Ibiki from the corner of her eyes.

"Oh? And why not?" Ibiki asked, shifting in his chair. He put his elbows onto the table, clasped his hands together, and rested his chin upon his fist.

Sakura eyed Ibiki silently.

Ibiki let out a frustrated groan. "Sakura, how can you not trust me?" Sakura tilted her head at him, her lips a straight line. "We've been in this room every Thursday for the past three years. How can you not trust me?" Ibiki threw his hands onto the table, causing the metal table to groan and Sakura to tense up.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and mimicked his earlier position—her elbows on the table with her chin resting upon her fist. "I trust you, Ibiki. But I don't exactly trust your reasoning's for interrogating me every Thursday." She then smirked at the frustrated Ibiki. "I'm almost ready to file for harassment."

"It isn't harassment, and it isn't interrogation!" Ibiki yelled, standing up and throwing his hands into the air. Sakura looked slightly shocked, although her smirk returned onto her features.

"Really? It feels like that to me, Ibiki-chan." Sakura replied smoothly, causing Ibiki to let out a frustrated yell.

"It's _therapy!_"Ibiki yelled out before he hurried out the door.

Sakura sat at the metal table for a few more seconds before she let out a mighty laugh.

The door opened again and in came Tsunade. Sakura stood up and smiled at her mentor.

"Sit back down, Sakura." Tsunade said softly. Sakura looked confused for a second before she slowly sat down. Tsunade followed suit but just hefted herself into the seat where Ibiki was once sitting.

"You know, you shouldn't torture Ibiki like that." Tsunade said, mirth dancing in her eyes as she stared at her daughter-like apprentice.

Sakura smirked. "Why not? He gets to torture people just about every day, it's time for his own medicine."

Tsunade laughed. "Alright, you got me there." Tsunade stopped laughing and stared down at her hands. "Sakura….the council are getting…upset." Tsunade muttered softly.

Sakura tensed. "Oh?"

Tsunade's eyes flickered to Sakura to see that she was staring at her, so Tsunade looked away. "They are urging me to put you into a containment cell." Tsunade looked around the room whenever Sakura stood up from her chair, forcing the chair to squeak as it flew backwards into the wall.

"You can't be serious!" Sakura growled out. "What about the hospital? All the patients? Tsunade, I'm the _best_ medic in this village and you know it!" Sakura growled out, causing Tsunade to shift in her chair.

"I know that, Sakura." Tsunade flicked her wrist at Sakura. "I'm doing all I can to stop the council from doing whatever they please." Tsunade rubbed her temples and Sakura sighed and dragged her chair back to the table.

"How long have they wanted to lock me up?" Sakura asked softly after sitting down in her chair.

"Three years."

Sakura looked at her mentor startled. "Since Inoichi?" Sakura asked alarmed.

"Yes. They tried to ask him what he saw, but he only acts like Ino does—if it's just a question like "What happened?" then he'll answer with a blank "I don't know" but if they mention your name then a weird voice mixes with his and orders them to be silent and not ask questions." Tsunade said calmly. Sakura flinched at the mixed voices part.

"Another voice?" Sakura muttered to herself softly.

In her mind, she heard a soft chuckle which, in her thought process, melded with Ino's voice to hear a voice that was half Ino and half mysterious voice.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded and eyed Sakura, who was looking down the table. "Is there something you'd like to tell me, Sakura?" Tsunade asked softly. Sakura ignored her for a moment.

"I…" Sakura went silent and she heard a squawk outside the walls. Tsunade glanced towards the wall. "No Ma'am." Sakura said softly.

Tsunade eyed Sakura for a minute before she sighed and stood up.

"Lay low for a bit, Sakura." Tsunade said calmly before walking out of the room, leaving the distraught Sakura in the room. Alone.

Kuro flew in through the open door and he landed on the table.

Sakura glanced at Kuro through angry tears.

"They want to keep me in a _containment cell._" Sakura hissed out softly. Kuro's eyes widened at her.

"Why?" Itachi's smooth voice crept out of Kuro.

The room they were in had no windows and the door was open, but to anyone else, it would just look like Sakura taught her raven how to speak.

"Because. They're _afraid_ of what's in my head." Sakura hissed again, except louder this time. Kuro squawked and flew towards her. He clutched onto her shirt and rubbed his head under her chin. She smiled softly.

"They won't do anything to you. I promise." Itachi muttered softly through Kuro. Sakura smiled.

"I know. Please protect me…Itachi-kun." Sakura muttered softly, mutely whispering his name.

**-o-**

"So, did you tell her?"

"Yes."

"How did she take it?"

"….She's absolutely furious."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me! They want to lock her up!"

"I know that! I…I just don't know what to do…!"

"…I'll protect her. And you. Don't worry. Nothing will happen."

"Thank you…Jiraya."

Jiraya smirked at his old teammate.

"No problem, Nade-chan."

"Bah, didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?"

"What? Sorry, you're uhm…" Jiraya cleared his throat. "Uh, distracted me."

"Hmph. Asshole."

**-o-**

**A/N So…there's a little over 5k words…not including this A/N, of course…lol. I hate to end it so soon, buuut…yeah…I dislike this computer and I didn't want this chapter to give away anything. Of course, most of you already know what's going to happen…but still. Hehehe.**

**1) So, my computer is dead. Lol. The disks in the hard drive were loose, but we found out that that wasn't the problem (I could get my files off of the hard drive, which should've told me something…) The person who I have trying to fix my computer says that he doesn't even know wtf is going on with it. He says that it could be anything from the video card to…to something else (I remember thinking that it probably was the video card) and he also said something about a new mother board buuut…whatever.**

**So, I don't have a computer up here anymore….I only have this Godzilla. I'm thinking about getting my other computer (which is ALSO an EMachine[what my old computer was] but is a lot better [usually…]) so I can write and I won't have to bother with this piece of shit computer. Lol. **

**2) One thing I definitely have to explain: the whole "spiritual Itachi in Sakura's bedroom." …Yeah, some of you may have guessed that Itachi really wasn't there. Itachi was only there in his thoughts. Since he can see through Kuro, he imagined himself there. Basically, we saw into what Kuro/Itachi was seeing. …Erm, that was confusing.**

**Hopefully you understand…? Uhm…well, if you don't, then please just ask me and I'll try to explain it to you. *_***

**3) (I don't own Naruto…sadly [LET THIS DISCLAIMER BE KNOWN FOR ALL OF THIS FANFICTION, SO I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN. D:])**

**4) I am not dead! My computer is though…-sighs-**

**5) I have been thinking A LOT about this fan fiction, and I have ideas for it and hopefully I'll be able to write them correctly and OMG I CAN'T WAIT. **

**6) So…I just had an idea. You guys what to see some "behind the scenes" stuff? Except, well, obviously this isn't a movie…but still. It's pretty long but hey. Oh well.**

**This is what I was expecting to do for a scene in chapter 10 (Trust me, you'll know it when you see it:**

After the first Itachi vs. Sasuke part of the story, Sakura goes to try to help him (she's being trained by Tsunade, so she has special privileges in the hospital.) She brings him a plate with a cut up apple on it, and Sasuke refuses to take the apples. Instead, he becomes unbelievably pissed, especially because she comes in wearing a gray Chuunin vest (gray is Chuunin and green in Jounin). He wonders how she got to be a Chuunin even though she's really weak (or so he seems to think…) and whenever she holds out the plate to him, he goes to smack it.

Sakura notices then that his hand is seemingly going in slow motion, so her eyes narrow in sadness and anger. She moves the plate away and instead of hitting the plate, Sasuke finds that Sakura has his wrist in her grip. She pulls him towards her and grabs onto his collar and tells him, "I come here, trying to help, and all you do is try to hit me? What the fuck is your problem Sasuke?" and he tells her to let go of him and so she smirks and says "You want me to let go? Fine." And then, as his eyes widen at the sudden dark look in her eyes, she pushes him away from her—into the wall, where he crumbles to the ground, refusing to groan.

Tsunade comes in with two more nurses (since everyone could hear Sakura yelling, so the nurses did the only thing they knew to do—get Tsunade) and asks what the hell went on, and Sakura merely shoots a glare at Sasuke before saying,

"Tsunade-shisou, all I was trying to do was help and all of a sudden, everything goes in slow motion—which, as you know, means he was trying to hit me! I was trying to help him and all he does is try to fucking hit me!" Sakura storms out of the room, shoving through the two nurses, pushing one into the wall and leaving the other girl to nearly fall on her face. Sasuke doesn't even bother to glare at the people in his room, or the woman who was now holding him in her face so she could yell at him.

"You tried to hit her? You idiot! You know how emotional she is—WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO HIT HER SASUKE!" and Sasuke yells…

"BECAUSE I DON'T NEED HER HELP, YOU OLD HAG." And then he shoves himself away from her and leans on the wall, glaring at her. Tsunade, knowing that if she stays any longer she'll hit him through a few walls and maybe kill him, walks out of the room, barking for the nurses to leave him and to continue what they were doing beforehand.

**Yeah…of course, if I went through and put all details and such in, then it'd be longer, but still. Lol. That's more of a …brief version of it. =) Enjoy it. I think I have a few more of those. Since I don't have too many of those, don't expect too many of those little "Behind the Scenes" cut thingies. Lol. **

**Did you enjoy it? Wooo…I did to. I was cackling evilly when I original wrote it. XD I was amused…heavily. Hehe. **

**Alright, well, I'll update this one and let you guys read it and enjoy it…remember: if there's any mistakes, please tell me.**

**Btw, does anyone else remember the whole "The purple button is hungry—when you click on it, you'll feed it!" kind of stuff? Where the purple button was always something and you had to click it and review the story or else something would happen or whatever…? Well, here it is:**

**Click the imaginary purple button! (where'd it ever go? D: I miss it…I don't like the scroll, click, Go!, review deal. It just doesn't have the natural **_**ring**_** to it…ya' know what I mean? D: )**

**Love ya'll!~**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	12. The Devastated

**Hey guys, here's:**

_Chapter 12: The Devastation_

Itachi rolled his eyes at his partners whining. He tried _so_ hard not to roll his eyes—he really had!—but he ended up rolling them anyway, and he knew, from Kisame's look towards him, that he would be bothered about it later.

"Itaaachi, we've been running all day! Let's rest!" Kisame whined again, causing Itachi's eyebrow to twitch. His eye twitched whenever his own belly rumbled in hunger and Itachi finally growled under his breathe.

"Fine." Itachi said calmly. Kisame grinned and cheered as he stopped. Itachi then said, "Let's continue on until we hit a clearing." Itachi said with a smirk. Kisame groaned again and the two darted off again.

A few minutes later, they came into a clearing. Kisame dropped down into the middle of the clearing, expecting to hear a soft tap beside him. He didn't.

Kisame looked behind him to see Itachi sitting in a tree, looking very comfortable with his hand in his pocket. Kisame tilted his head but didn't say anything.

"Go build us a fire, Kisame." Itachi ordered sharply. Kisame grumbled under his breathe.

"I assume I'm catching the fish to?" Kisame asked.

Itachi merely glanced at him before returning to his…whatever he was doing in that little pocket of his.

Kisame grumbled under his breathe as he walked into the forest.

Itachi glanced in Kisame general direction. Once Itachi sensed that Kisame was a reasonable way away, he pulled out two objects from his pocket.

He fingered the objects with his eyes closed, imagining how the object would feel before he opened his eyes. When he opened his onyx eyes, he felt a deep sorrow clinch at his heart.

The objects in his hand were blurry. They were blurrier than before—and a hell of a lot more blurry than he thought they ever should be.

Itachi clinched the items in his hand and growled underneath his breathe. He closed his eyes and threw his head against the trunk, making a resounding _thunk_ throughout his skull.

_These…should be on…on_ our_ fingers…not in my cloak pocket…_ Itachi thought to himself before opening his eyes.

He stared down at the objects in sadness.

There were two rings—they were the Uchiha clan head's rings. He had pulled them off of his mother and his father's fingers. Even though they had a terrible background…they meant the world to him.

Even though Itachi never witnessed it before, he knew that his mother and father loved each other a lot more than they ever gave off. Itachi, to, hoped to achieve that level of love one day.

Of course, that was his goal…when he was seven.

Now his goal was to die at his own brothers hands.

The most ironic thing about it? He ended up falling in love anyway. With the most amazing, beautiful, and even the most talented and the smartest girl ever to have existed.

One who was in love with both Uchiha brothers.

The one which both Uchiha brothers loved dearly.

The one only _one_ brother could have.

The one Itachi was going to let go—so his brother could live happily one day.

_But if you wanted to let go before, why have you kept Karasu with her? Why do you keep torturing yourself by watching her—even as she sleeps?_

Itachi berated his inner most thoughts. _I don't need those thoughts…Love is harsh and completely irrational._

_Something you aren't. Irrational. Itachi Uchiha has no _need_ for the word _irrational.

_Stop! Leave me alone!_ Itachi held in the urge to grab onto his head in either shame or sorrow, he didn't know which.

He clutched the rings tighter in his hand. The urge to slip the man band onto his finger was deafening, as the need and want roared in his ears and heart.

Instead of suffering his own confusion, he merely…settled his eyes on the bands.

The female's ring had an Uchiha fan embedded inside of the diamond in the middle of the ring. The Uchiha fan was made out of an expertly cut ruby and a pearl that was carved into the bottom part of the fan. The diamond's bottom had been cut out in the shape of the Uchiha fan. The ruby and pearl fit snug into the holes that were made for them, only separated by a few centimeters.

Around the large diamond, on each side of the band, were small rubies. The rubies had the sunburst effect on the bottom of them.

Itachi then held the male ring close to the female ring. The male ring had an Uchiha fan in it as well, made out of ruby and pearl. But that was the only decoration on it. The band itself with silver, of course.

Itachi sighed before clinching his fist once more.

_Time to see how Sakura is doing…_ Itachi murmured in his thoughts before concentrating on Sakura through Karasu/Kuro.

**-o-**

"What time do you have to go in?"

Sakura glanced at the clock before she answered the man. "I go in an hour, why, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked back.

Kakashi merely shifted on the couch. "Because, I may crash on your couch tonight." Kakashi said shrugging.

Sakura shook her head and laughed. "I'll be coming in at around three o'clock—at least if no emergences happen, then it may be well until the morning."

Kakashi flicked his wrist. "Meh, I know, Sakura-chan. We've been through this before." Kakashi looked away with a slight pout.

"What, did you and Anko-chan get into another fight?" Sakura asked teasingly. Kakashi kept his eyes away from Sakura, although she could tell that he was pouting even more than before.

Sakura giggled softly before she stood up from the couch and stretched.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready. You know the drill, Kakashi-sensei. Lock the doors after me." Sakura said over her shoulder, flicking her wrist over her shoulder.

Kakashi grunted and laid on the couch.

Sakura smiled softly and entered her room. The first thing she did was gather up all of the files that she would need for that day. She always brought files home.

Next, she took a quick shower and changed into her medic uniform. Sakura glanced out of the window and decided that she had around half an hour, so she could look over the files once more.

She flipped open the folders and as she thumbed through the files, she kept a steady chakra net around her house. Once she left the house, it would be up to Kakashi to put up a chakra net. Sakura had some pretty high risk scrolls in her house, although only a few people knew that.

Sakura glanced out the window approximately twenty-five minutes later and cursed. She rolled up the scroll she was writing in and put it in her pocket. She hefted up all the folders into her arms and called to Kakashi.

"I'm heading to work, Kakashi-sensei!" she yelled. She heard a muttered "alright" and she smirked.

She disappeared with a nod of her head, leaving a dozen squawking ravens in her wake, which disappeared seconds later.

**-o-**

"Hey Itachi!" Kisame called out calmly, causing Itachi to glance at him. "I've got the fire wood and the fish!" Kisame tilted his head and began to head towards the middle of the clearing, where they were going to start the fire

Itachi merely looked away and put the rings back into his pocket.

The slight sound of clanking metal caught Kisame's attention, although he didn't show it outwardly.

…_Rings? The metal sounds really small, and I can't think of anything else that would have that kind of sound…plus, there's two, determined by the different tones of clanks._ Kisame thought to himself.

"Cook them." Itachi said before he began his descent towards the ground, his cloak rising slightly from the air rushing upwards through the cloak. When Itachi's feet planted fully on the ground, his cloak fell back down to a comfortable spot.

Kisame grumbled but did as he was told. He glanced up at his partner.

"Our spy doesn't come out until night, and it's too late tonight for her to be at the bar. She doesn't show up during the day." Kisame randomly stated. Itachi froze. A second later, Itachi unfroze and headed a different direction than he had a second before.

"So it seems." He said softly, grabbing a log from the corner of the clearing and setting it down beside the fire. He sat down on the log and Kisame heard the clanking again.

This time, Itachi caught Kisame eyeing his pocket. Itachi cleared his throat and Kisame looked down at the roasting fish.

"What's in your pocket, Itachi?" Kisame asked softly, wondering if he would get an answer.

Itachi was silent for a few minutes.

Kisame closed his eyes, preparing for some sort of scolding. His eyes shot open when he heard Itachi's cloak rustling and the log be picked up.

Kisame opened his eyes slightly to see that Itachi put the log beside his own small log.

Itachi had his hand in his pocket and Kisame knew that they were rings then. He could see the way that Itachi twirled something in his fingers, and it was confirmed when he clutched something in his pocket and brought it out in front of him.

"You cannot tell a soul, Kisame." Itachi stared up at Kisame, who nodded and gave his promise. Itachi then looked down at his hand, and Kisame could see the hurt and pain in his onyx eyes—wait, onyx?

"We have been partners for a long time, Kisame." Itachi muttered softly. "You have stood by my side loyally, and even though this may mess with my plans…I'll tell you anyway." Itachi then held his hand out to Kisame.

Kisame's mouth flapped open in shock whenever Itachi turned his fist over and in his palm were two beautiful rings.

Kisame whispered a few words on astonishment and before Kisame knew what was happening, Itachi grabbed a hold of Kisame's wrist and dropped the rings into his upturned hands.

Kisame fingered the rings softly and, using his pinky as a hook, turned them over so he could see all of the jewels in the ring.

"Are these….engagement rings?" Kisame asked softly, glancing up at Itachi. Itachi was looking up into the night sky.

"Yes, Kisame. They are." Itachi said calmly.

"Who are they for?" Kisame asked, giving the rings back to Itachi who clutched them tightly.

"If my plans go accordingly…then Sasuke and Sakura."

Kisame's eyes widened and he stood up in a flash.

"No!" Kisame stared at Itachi in horror. "Sasuke does not deserve Sakura-chan, Itachi." Kisame said harshly, causing Itachi to tense. Itachi stared into the fire, imagining Sakura in his mind.

"Are you trying to imply something, Kisame?" Itachi deadpanned, glancing towards Kisame with flashing eyes.

"I don't have to _imply_ anything; I'll just come out and say it: that _brat_ doesn't deserve those rings. I can see that you love Sakura-chan. I've seen you whenever you are watching her through your raven's eyes—she makes you completely happy." Kisame sat back down and sighed.

Itachi was silent for a minute. "I'm going to die sometime soon, Kisame." Itachi gazed at Kisame for a minute, who remained silent. "I plan to let Sasuke kill me."

Whenever Kisame opened his mouth to speak, Itachi glared at him.

Kisame backed down but he said this one, last thing: "If you die…can I tell her about the rings?"

Itachi was silent for a moment. "When I die, will it matter?" Itachi asked softly before picking up his log and going to the other side of the fire.

A few moments of silence later, Itachi had only one thing to say:

"Would it make you feel better about the situation if I hide the rings instead?"

Kisame's only response was a tooth-filled grin.

**-o-**

"I'm home!" Sakura called out tiredly. The house was silent and she sighed in relief. She drifted over to her bedroom and the moment her head hit the pillow, she was out. She only had time for at least six hours of sleep before she had to go back into work.

Kuro sat near Sakura, where he would act as her alarm clock.

As Kuro gazed at the unconscious girl, he began to…contemplate.

_Why do some humans wish to….to work themselves to death? Sakura just got off of a shift and she goes back in around six hours. _Kuro stared unblinkingly at Sakura. _Itachi-sama, do you know?_

A dark chuckle went off in Kuro's mind and he imagined Itachi sitting in front of him, petting and staring fondly at Sakura.

_**Sakura has had a rough life so far. She is trying to drown her pain and fears by working as much as possible.**_ Itachi then smiled and looked Kuro straight in the eyes. _**Kuro, I have a mission for you. I will allow you to arrive home before six hours, but to do so you will have to work fast.**_

Kuro nodded outwardly, even though he was receiving the order in his mind. "Yes, Itachi-sama." Kuro muttered to himself before he phased through the window and left the village, squawking all the way.

**-o-**

"Sasuke-kun." A man's voice hissed out in the darkness of his throne room.

"What do you want now." The boy's defiant voice deadpanned in the resounding darkness.

"Tsk tsk. No need to be so angry, Sasuke-kun…"

"Che."

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. _Temperamental, brooding brat…_

"I have a mission for you, and I think you'll like this one…" Orochimaru hissed out, knowing that Sasuke would either be seriously happy with him…or he'd be terribly pissed off.

"Oh really now." Sasuke deadpanned, wondering why he was still here with this…this _pedophile_.

"Oh yes, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru shifted in his seat and put his elbows onto his knees, where he leaned forward and licked his lips. "I want you…to go capture Haruno Sakura from Konohagakure"

Sasuke whipped his head towards him. "What?" Sasuke hissed, moving away from the wall and slowly towards the snake man. "You want me to do _what!"_ Sasuke growled, wondering how stupid Orochimaru could be.

"You heard me. I want her to not only heal my arms—which honestly can come later—but mostly…because I've been watching her." Orochimaru licked his lips. "It seems your brother is…interested in her." Orochimaru shifted in his chair and crossed his legs, all the while staring at Sasuke with a certain hunger in his eyes—the hunger for blood and torment.

Sasuke stopped and tensed up. "Itachi is?" He muttered, wondering why his brother was interested in _his_ Sakura.

Orochimaru purred in pleasure at his student's curiosity. "Oh yes. They—ah, how do you say it…—_hang out?—_a lot." Orochimaru basically purred at the anger he felt from his apprentice.

"So you want to kidnap _my_ Sakura, so we can use her as bait for my brother?" Sasuke asked in a hiss, subconsciously wondering when he got to hissing so much.

"Precisely." Orochimaru basically purred at the feral smirk on Sasuke's face. Sasuke's face then turned to a blank slate—all except the hardly noticeable smirk on his lips.

"I understand. Shall I leave tonight?" Sasuke asked nonchalantly, flicking his wrist at Orochimaru.

"Yes. Leave as soon as the moon appears in the sky." Orochimaru stated with a smirk. Sasuke mirrored his smirk before leaving. Orochimaru's smirk dripped off of his face and left a more predator-look in its wake.

_I wonder how Pein will take it once I steal the last of his family away from him—right under his nose…hmm…I wonder what I'll do with the little flower…._

**-o-**

Sakura whined under her breathe when she felt her raven friend gently peck her on the cheek.

"Five more minutes…" she murmured softly. Kuro puffed out his cheeks and his chest and did a dance on Sakura's back. Sakura tensed up as Kuro's claws scratched at her back. His wings flung into the air as arms would have.

Sakura groaned and threw him off of her back, causing Kuro to squawk as he flung himself into the air.

Sakura glared at Kuro and he only looked at her with a look that said "I tried to warn you…"

Sakura snorted and stretched.

"I have half an hour to get a shower, get dressed, eat me a quick meal, and then head towards the hospital." Sakura mumbled to herself as she gathered herself together and clambered off of the bed.

She stumbled to the bathroom doorway and rubbed her eyes. She glanced back at Kuro to see him looking at her with an odd look in his eyes. His head was tilted slightly. Sakura turned her head and looked at him fully.

"Is something on your mind?" She asked Kuro softly.

Kuro clamored away in a rush. "No!" He squawked out roughly. Sakura eyed him for a minute before turning around and darting towards the bathroom.

**-o-**

Sakura appeared into her office with a cloud of smoke. She glanced at the clock and let out a sigh of relief.

"Just in time…"

"Sakura!" Shizune yelled as she opened the door to her office. Sakura blinked at Shizune, who smirked.

"So, you just got here, huh?" Shizune said with a hidden laugh in her voice. Sakura flushed and continued to put her cloak on, which was half way on whenever Shizune slammed open her door.

"Yeah yeah, what do you want, Shizune?" Sakura asked with a pout before she put the files, which she had taken home, onto her desk.

"Tsunade-sama wants to talk to you." Shizune said before she backed up out of the office slowly.

Sakura sighed before she ruffled her hair slightly and picked up the magnitude of files that she had just put down.

"Alright." Sakura muttered before she headed towards the door, where Shizune was waiting. "Do you have any idea what she wants to talk to me about?"

Shizune shook her head and then an all call came on.

"Shizune-sama, you are urgently needed in room 114. I repeat, Shizune-sama, you are urgently needed in room 114."

Shizune sighed.

"That's an examination room." Sakura stated to herself before she looked to Shizune. "You should hurry up. Someone's probably having an allergic reaction or something. Or perhaps it's a poison, hm?" Sakura asked, making Shizune's eyes widen with interest.

"Strangely, I hope it's a poison." Shizune said softly before she disappeared, making Sakura giggle slightly.

_She's always been a sucker for poisons._

**-o-**

Whenever Sakura got to Tsunade's office, she walked in without knocking. She came in to find Tsunade holding her hand up slightly with Kuro resting upon her fingers.

Sakura raised her eyebrow whenever Tsunade glared at her.

"You have got to be kidding me." Tsunade said as she glared at her student.

Sakura shifted and sent a glare towards Kuro who only looked away and whistled, although it was only an attempt and didn't come out as a whistle.

"Go _home_ Sakura. You are starting to work yourself too hard. Again. I'll call you if there are any emergencies, but until then, rest at home. Six hours are not adequate for rest. In fact, that only counts as a _nap." _ Tsunade continued as she eyed Sakura, seeing the tired eyes shine with the fiery passion Tsunade was familiar with.

"But Tsunade-sama-"

Tsunade held up a hand and turned her head away slightly. Kuro jumped off of Tsunade's hand and landed onto the desk, where he watched Sakura for a minute.

Sakura huffed softly. "Fine…" She muttered before she sent a glance towards Kuro and then disappeared in a wisp of wind and a flock of blind ravens.

"You taught her that didn't you?" Tsunade asked Kuro lightly with amusement sparking in her voice.

Kuro glanced at her, his Sharingan eyes glaring brilliantly. "Yes." Itachi spoke through Kuro before flying through the window.

Tsunade sat still for a moment before she huffed and pouted. She stared at the paperwork in front of her.

…_I wonder if Shizune will do my paperwork for me.._

**-o-**

"Can I go yet, Itachi?" Kisame whined as he wiggled around on his log. It was nearly night time now, and Itachi was already getting annoyed by his constant whining.

Itachi rubbed his temples softly, showing his annoyance for once, which caused Kisame to turn away and whistle to himself in fake innocence.

"Yes. Leave." Itachi ordered softly. Kisame nodded, smirked then left in a flash. With Kisame gone, Itachi could finally concentrate on Sakura again.

**-o-**

Sakura laid in her bed on her back. She had her left knee bent and had her right leg crossed over it. Her right foot was circling the air with Kuro perched upon said foot.

"Kuro-kun?" Sakura hummed out softly. Kuro eyed her for a second before letting out a grunt, confirming that he was paying attention.

"Do you remember how we first met?" Sakura asked softly, gazing down at Kuro who flapped his wings and began to hurriedly climb up Sakura's circling leg until he was perched onto her knee. His Sharingan eyes gleamed in amusement and affirmation.

"Of course, Sakura." Kuro said gruffly and quietly, making Sakura hum in appeasement.

_Flashback_

"_Sakura?" Itachi called out softly, rousing said called for women from her dozing off._

"_Hm?" she sighed out tiredly._

_Itachi lifted himself to rest his elbow onto the bed so he could lay his head onto his palm. He turned his body towards Sakura, who was lying right beside him. She was under the covers whilst he was on top of them._

_Sakura peeked open an eye at her secret friend._

"_No matter what happens…I want you to never forget me nor anything I have taught you." Itachi said softly, using his left hand to caress Sakura's right cheek softly, causing her to turn her head to look at Itachi. She looked at him through half-lidded eyes._

"_I wouldn't dare to, Itachi-_sensei_" Sakura said, adding on the –sensei part to tease him._

_Itachi smirked before his face was wiped blank again. Sakura stared at him confused for a moment before he moved closer to her. He slowly moved even closer to her, closing his eyes as he did so. Sakura blushed lightly but watched him as he grew nearer._

'What is he…_' Sakura thought to herself before she felt and saw Itachi lean his forehead onto her own forehead. He exhaled softly and slowly opened his eyes to show his onyx eyes, which were so filled with love, relief, grief, pain, and sorrow that it made Sakura's breath catch in her throat._

"_Itachi…" Sakura muttered softly, wondering what was wrong with him to make him act as such._

_Itachi used his thumb to cover her mouth, telling her to be silent. Sakura thought he would move his thumb away from her lips but instead he kept it there, even moving it slightly to seemingly caress her lips. He watched his own thumb silently._

_Sakura gazed into Itachi's eyes until Itachi finally looked into her eyes._

"_From this point on, I don't know how often you will see me." He muttered softly. Sakura's breath caught at the sound of his voice and she hesitantly reached up and laid her hand onto his cheek. He tensed slightly but relaxed when she buried her finger tips into his raven hair._

"_Some people are aware of how much you mean to me, Sakura." Itachi said suddenly, causing Sakura to tense and look at him questioningly._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You're in danger, Sakura. I may not always be here to protect you, but I will do everything in my power to make sure that you are alive and perfectly fine and safe at the end." Itachi said softly. Sakura looked at him alarmed._

"_Itachi?"_

_Itachi leaned backwards slightly and laid a kiss upon her forehead. He flashed a small smile to her, causing her breathe to catch. Again._

"_I have to go now, Sakura. But I will always be watching and protecting you." Itachi said after he sat up and gazed down at her softly._

"_Wait, Itachi-"_

"_Goodbye, my Cherry Blossom—my Sakura." Itachi said softly before he disappeared into a flock of Sharingan bearing ravens. The ravens dispersed after they fluttered around for a minute, but one fluttered down to sit beside Sakura._

_Sakura tilted her head at it and it tilted its head to her._

"_Hello little guy, who're you?" Sakura asked it softly, easing her finger closer to it to pet it. The raven eyed her finger suspiciously before it hopped forward and met her finger halfway._

"_Sakura, this raven is directly connected to me. At any time I want, I can look through its eyes and hear through its ears." The raven then tilted its head to the side, so Sakura could see only one eye. The Sharingan in its eyes seemed to glow for a second before the tomoe began to spin chaotically._

_Sakura looked slightly confused before she schooled her expression. "I see. What about the Sharingan?" She asked softly._

_The raven then relaxed and a chuckle escaped the bird as he moved around slightly. "I have a special genjutsu surrounding the eyes—only you can see the birds Sharingan. Anyone else who looks at the birds eyes will see nothing but empty eye sockets."_

_Sakura's mouth flopped open slightly but silently nodded._

"_Get to sleep, Sakura. I'll watch over you."_

_With that said, Sakura fell into a deep sleep with a raven cuddling up to her side._

_End Flashback_

"So how come you've only just recently started to talk to me, Kuro-kun?" Sakura asked, causing Kuro to twitch and move around on her knee.

"I have learned your language through Itachi-sama….but I had to learn even more from watching." Kuro said gruffly before flapping his wings a few times and settling onto her knee.

"Ah, I see." Sakura muttered, causing Kuro to snort at her. She shot him a small glare and he merely sent her an amused look.

"Don't you have work to do?" Kuro asked her with an amused tone in his gruff voice.

Sakura paused for a moment before her eyes shot open as wide as possible.

"Shit!"

Kuro chuckled. _I knew it…_

**-o-**

"Sakura, I am SO sorry that I had to wake you up…" A shocked Shizune said as she and Sakura ran across the roofs.

Sakura glanced at her. "Never be afraid to wake me up, and never be sorry for it. At least if it's an emergency such as this one."

"B-But…Sakura, its eleven o'clock at night!" Shizune announced shocked, causing Sakura to snort.

"So?" Sakura then shot a smirk at Shizune. "So, tell me who the patient is."

Shizune looked down and Sakura knew what had happened. "It's…It's Genma…"

Sakura eyed Shizune for a few moments before her speed suddenly increased.

"I see. Shizune, you can either go home or you can wait for me in the waiting room. I don't want you anywhere near the operation room. I can handle it myself." Sakura announced, causing Shizune to wince.

"H-Hai…" Shizune sniffled as she slowed down.

Sakura tossed one sentence behind her before she disappeared in a burst of speed.

"_You'll be the first to know when the operation is complete and Genma is stable."_

**-o-**

"What's the situation?" Sakura ordered, throwing on her doctor robes.

"Shiranui Genma's team has returned from a B ranked mission." A nurse said hurridly, rushing beside Sakura.

"You mean Tsunade-sama let them go on a B rank?" Sakura asked shocked, wondering why Tsunade would allow that.

"Hai, Sakura-sama. His three students aren't in too bad of condition, but they have still inhaled some sort of toxin. I'm afraid we may lose all four of them." The nurse said before she was suddenly thrown against the wall, her throat held by Sakura.

The entire hallway—which had been in a panic—was now deathly silent.

"Don't you _ever_ say that we may lose a patient. You must remain optimistic about _any_ situation, or else you will **doom** that patient. Mind over matter, _Yumi_." Sakura ground out, causing the nurse to squeak and shake.

Sakura dropped the nurse and began to jog down the silent hallway.

**-o-**

Tsunade hummed a merry song as she swung her sake bottle from left to right, watching it in an almost mesmerized way. The bottle slowly began to halt in the air as the seemingly-happy Tsunade sobered up suddenly.

The sake was dripping onto the stack of papers below it.

"What…?" Tsunade muttered before suddenly the whole sake bottle exploded in her hands, causing her hand to drip blood onto the papers below her hand.

She stared shocked at a certain point on the wall, urging herself to not look at her bleeding hand. Shakily, she brought her other hand to heal the bleeding hand.

Once the wound on her hand was healed and her blood was wiped onto her pants, she looked down at the mixture of blood and sake and openly gaped.

"Oh god…Sakura!" Tsunade yelled out alarmed. She shoved her chair backwards, trying to get away from the horrible omen.

A ring of sake was around the face of Haruno Sakura, the blood making a five pointed star, with two of the points missing.

**-o-**

_Later That Night_

"Sakura!" Shizune called out alarmed, seeing her friend come into the waiting room. Everyone in the waiting room snapped their heads up to look at the radiant doctor.

Sakura smiled at Shizune. "They're all doing fine." Sakura's smile then slipped off of her face. "Genma, though….unfortunately…" Sakura paused, taking in Shizune's horrified face.

"W-What?" Shizune asked, sitting down heavily.

"Unfortunately…" Sakura muttered to herself, her eyes flickering to everyone in the room who's eyes were down cast.

"Is perfectly fine." Sakura deadpanned with a downcast and sweatdrop.

Shizune's head shot up. "W-What?" Shizune asked shocked. She reached out and grabbed the front of Sakura's cloak. "He's fine!" Shizune yelled, causing Sakura to sweat drop at her.

"I know right? How sad…" Sakura deadpanned before smirking at the now fuming Shizune.

"Oh Sakura! Don't trick me like that! Especially not with Genma-ku-" Shizune abruptly stopped and sat down. She desperately tried to cover her blush, although Sakura had already seen it.

"He's asking for you. Come on. He's already in recovery." Sakura winked at the shocked Shizune. "He's got a strong will—something he'll need if he'll have to deal with you his whole life!" Sakura announced before laughing at her friends blush.

Shizune pouted but stood up and began to walk beside Sakura.

Shizune expected Sakura to go down the recovery hallway, but instead, she turned the opposite way—to a more secluded part of the hospital.

"Sakura..?" Shizune called softly. Sakura didn't even turn around, she just kept walking. Shizune, caught in the middle of the hallway, decided to follow her friend, since she didn't know which room was Genma's.

Soon, the two came to a completely abandoned hallway—one which Shizune didn't even know about.

"Sakura…?" Shizune asked softly.

Sakura turned to her friend and motioned for her to sit in a chair which was in front of the window. Shizune took the seat and watched as Sakura sat in the window frame.

"I have one question for you." Sakura said sternly, causing Shizune to become slightly confused.

"Yes?"

"How close are you and Genma?" Sakura asked, causing Shizune to start blushing.

"Well…we have been going out for about three years now.." Shizune admitted, causing Sakura's eyes to widen in shock.

"Am I to assume that the two of you have had sex, then?" Sakura asked, causing Shizune to blush even further.

"Ah…yeah…"

Sakura looked at her friend critically for a moment. "I'm afraid…that something went wrong with Genma's condition." Sakura admitted, causing Shizune to look at her shock.

"W-What? But you said…"

"Shizune, he can't have children. He's sterile." Sakura said softly. Shizune's eyes widened.

"B-But—how?"

"Genma and his team had been infected by a poison. I don't know why, but it affected him differently than his three students." Sakura paused and watched Shizune's face as she explained. "The poison attacked his tubes. We don't know how it happened, but it left him sterile. We tried everything that we could think of….but it all failed. I'm sorry. Maybe we'll know what to do later on, so maybe we can try to make him…able to have babies again, but…"

Shizune held up a hand and smiled softly at Sakura. She then put a hand onto her stomach and looked down fondly at her stomach.

Sakura gaped.

"W-wha-?"

"Three months already." Shizune said softly, causing Sakura to smile widely.

"Have you had any one look after you?" Sakura asked.

"Tsunade-sama has." Shizune affirmed, causing Sakura to squeal.

"Have you told Genma?" Sakura asked, watching Shizune get up out of the seat. Sakura slid from the frame of the window and began walking out of the room, Shizune at her side.

"No. I haven't found the right time for it." Shizune said, shaking her head negatively.

"You need to tell him. Soon. Before you start to show." Sakura said, causing Shizune to smile softly.

"Yep." She said, popping the "p" at the end.

Sakura merely smiled and led the awaiting mother to Genma's room.

**-o-**

Elsewhere, a certain Uchiha was sitting around a fire, waiting for his fish-face of a partner to appear. A smile spread across his lips—he had chosen such a wonderful woman to love…

**-o-**

_I wonder how Sakura-chan is doing…_ Kisame wondered to himself, a shot of sake in his hand. He lifted the shot and sniffed it before sighing in relief and drinking the shot in one gulp.

"Ahh! That hit the spot…" Kisame muttered to himself happily. He motioned for another one, and that's when he felt a hand upon his arm. He glanced to his left to see the woman he had been waiting for—Michiki (which means Beautiful, and trust Kisame's judgement on the word, she fit it perfectly.)

Her pouty red lips looked just as scrumptious as they always did, Kisame mused. Her dark colored eyes seemed to lure him into a trance, which he knew was only part of her ploy. He easily dispersed the small Genjutsu.

She smiled seductively at him.

"Tonight?" She purred, causing him to mentally shiver.

His only answer was a smirk of razor sharp teeth. She almost literally dragged the shark man up the stairs and into the room at the far end of the bar. This room was the only one with a window—or at least a window that would open and close.

She quickly threw a sound proof barrier around the room and dropped the Genjutsu which laced her eyes. This lack of Genjutsu left her eyes looking hard and completely black, whereas her eyes before were brown and full of luster.

She stared at him for a moment, contemplating what she was supposed to do at this point. Usually she got the black haired man, in which she would actually try to seduce him—which, of course, never worked, but it was always fun to see his facial expressions.

"The scroll?" Kisame asked, causing Michiki to tense slightly. He raised an eyebrow, mentally growling.

She tensely reached into her robes, giving the male an overly gracious view of her cleavage, and took out a small scroll.

At this, he raised both of his eye brows.

"What is this?" he growled, causing her to let out a small whimper, especially whenever he ripped the scroll from her hands.

"You almost always give us more than twice of this. What is this?" Kisame growled once more, causing the girl to turn her head. Kisame, in a fit of rage, grabbed onto her chin and roughly turned her head towards him. "I'll accept this for now, seeing as I have personal matters to attend to. But you had better give us twice of what you usually give us. This shit that you've given me today? This is unacceptable. We need _more_ information than this. Do you understand me?" Kisame roughly let go of her chin and he heard her sniffle. He wanted to snort, but he was too angry to.

"I-I understand…Akatsuki-sama…" She muttered softly. "Ninjas aren't hardly coming in anymore, so…"

She glanced up at Kisame to see that he was glaring at her, his beady eyes penetrating her soul and threatening to rip her soul into shreds—which he could probably do with that huge sword of his.

"I'm not askin' for excuses. I'm _orderin'_ for information. I don't care how you get the information, just so long as you don't betray us." Kisame then snorted towards her and escaped through the window.

In her wake, he left a slightly amused kunoichi.

"So he thinks he can intimidate me, huh…."

**-o-**

_Two in the morning; Konoha_

Sakura walked into her house to see a familiar face sleeping on her couch.

She sweat dropped.

_Kakashi-sensei and Anko-chan probably had another fight…._ Sakura sighed inwardly, wondering why he'd always come and sleep on her couch.

His silver hair always did stick out miraculously on her pitch black couch—which she'd _always_ end up hitting, no matter how much ninja skills she had.

She navigated herself around her apartment so she could slide into her room—only hoping to not wake Kakashi (which she always ended up doing anyway.)

The moment she stepped into her room, she felt a funny feeling. Not one of those "oh wow, that was funny! Haha!" funnies. But the "hm…something feels off in here…" funny. The bad kind of funny, mostly.

Deciding to brush the feeling off since none of her chakra nets were disturbed, she picked out her night clothes—a t-shirt and a pair of short shorts—and headed to her bathroom to change.

She quickly changed and headed off to bed.

The moment she had settled into bed and was just about to drift into bed…

She felt the bed suddenly shift. She opened her eyes and cursed herself for her mistake.

Her eyes met spinning Sharingan eyes, and she was out like a light.

**-o-**

Itachi's eyes shot open and he looked around for Kisame. _ I felt his chakra around here somewhere…._

Itachi heard a shift behind him and turned his head to see his partner.

"Yo~" Kisame said happily, causing Itachi's eyes to darken.

"We are leaving. Now." Itachi said coldly, causing Kisame to pause and pout.

"Aww, but Itachi…" Kisame whined, wondering why they were leaving so soon. "But you said that we could rest all night then go in the morning…."

_Watch his mood do a complete 180…_ "It's about Sakura."

Kisame nearly hit a tree in shock. "W-What? What about Sakura?" Kisame said harshly, speeding up to be running beside him.

"She's been kidnapped." Itachi said coldly as he watched from the corner of his eye as his partner's mind flew away, leaving only a cold-hearted beast.

"Who has kidnapped her?" Kisame growled out, nearly making Itachi chuckle.

_I knew it._ "I don't know yet. We have to go to Leader-sama. He will want to know, if he doesn't already."

Kisame roared in raw anger and pure hatred.

**-o-**

"Konan…" Pein growled out, his fingers clutching onto his wooden desk. He heard the desk groan but he only tightened his grip even further.

"Yes Pein-sama?" Konan asked cautiously, wondering what her most trusted friend was angry about.

"Meet Kisame and Itachi at our base near Konoha." Pein said, his eyes darkened a bit by his anger.

"Hai, Pein-sama." Konan hesitated for a moment. "What exactly is my mission?" Konan asked softly, causing Pein to glare at her.

"I assume that Uchiha Sasuke has kidnaped Sakura."

Konan's eyes widened as her pupils dilated.

"That damn Orochimaru…" Konan growled, ready to rip the snakes head off.

Pein smirked shakily, although it fell quickly and was replaced by anger once more.

"You will be acting as our medic." Pein said, standing up and adjusting his cloak.

"E-Excuse me?" Konan asked shocked.

"Before you leave to get ready, be sure to tell the other members to not come into this room and that all of the members, who are here, are to remain here and not leave the base. Those members who will be coming back will make me a mission debriefing scroll and are to give it to me once I return. I will go wake my bodies." Pein said before he began to walk out of the office.

Konan relayed his message to all of the members except Itachi and Kisame, who Pein was telling them about the new mission the four were going to execute.

**-o-**

Elsewhere a pink-haired fifteen year old was looking around wildly before a metal gate opened up, and she saw her capture—

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Well…not quite."

Sakura's eyes widened at how "Sasuke's" appearance melted to reveal the one person she thought she'd never see again.

"Orochimaru…."

Orochimaru grinned darkly. "Hello, my dear."

**A/N Oh mah gawwwd! I'm sooo sorry for not updating before this! D:**

**So first off, I'm really bad at this….I keep leaving out key details and …yeah..**

**So I'll explain Itachi and Kisame's mission….or at least the location.**

**Itachi and Kisame were sent to Tani in River Country. (wow, what an explanation!) K, well, I had a lot more right here, but I didn't like it here, so I deleted it...lol. -laughs nervously-**

**K. ONTO TEH NUMBERRSS! –hearts-**

**1) Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I only own the plot line (I hope anyway…owo I didn't steal it from anyone, did I? D:)**

**2) If I have any mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense (such as key parts you feel I have left out or just little details you feel I need to put in) then please tell me. Why do I even tell you this? No one really does that anyway….but oh well. I'll do so anyway.**

**3) Gaawwwd…I've made Sakura seem so…**_**emotional**_**. O.o I didn't realize I did that on such a scale. Just know that a lot of that is fake.**

**4) My excuses:**

…**.I really don't have any. I just haven't wanted to write. I'd get the inspiration…then I'd either get distracted or I would read this and think "Oh my god, this is SOOO horribly wrote…!" and almost rewrite the whole thing. But then I think "hopefully my thinking this is wrote horribly is only my bad self-esteem talking, and it's actually pretty well wrote. Hopefully…..maybe.."**

**So if there is anything that I can improve on, please tell me….D:**

**5) So why did I start to write again? Why, that's elementary my dear(s)! ….I got another idea. Hahaha. You saw it in this chapter—at the end. ;P Pein wasn't originally going to go onto the "man hunt." But I decided I'd do something….different…-pats self on back-**

**6) So…who all is happy that I FINALLY updated? Huh? Huh? Well, I am. Because that now means that I have hit twelve chapters and I'll be writing on my thirteenth one! Woot!**

**7) If you have any ideas for this, then why not tell me them? Maybe I can integrate the idea into the story! Maybe. Idk though…it depends. But still, suggest it! I love to hear your ideas!**

**8) Please review~ Especially with the new reviewing system~**

**Which reminds me….how does everyone like the new system for alerts, favorites, and even reviews? I kind of like it, I guess….mayyybe I'm just old fashioned, but I liked the purple button….it always made my day…XDD but oh well.**

**Word count (excluding A/N): 6,852**

**Word count (including A/N, chapter title, and really, really short A/N at the top and the end of this A/N): 7,378**

**Love you guys! Ja!~**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	13. The Deliberate

_Chapter 13: The Deliberate _

"_System resurrection at 58%"_

Pein paced in front of the capsules which held the rest of his bodies. _I won't need all of them, but it would still provide to be amusing when I get to see the death of Orochimaru from six different point of views…._ Pein thought to himself before letting out a brief chuckle.

"_System resurrection at 85%"_

Pein paused in his pacing to watch the capsules begin to move to be standing upright. Smoke began to fill the capsules, and Pein watched—going from one body to the next—as their eyes began to open and move around and their bodies began to twitch and flex their muscles.

"_System resurrection at 95%"_

"Come on…Come on…" Pein muttered to himself as he watched the capsules slowly unlock. The doors on the capsules then started to slowly creak open.

"_System resurrection at 98%"_

Each door came to a halt once they were completely open, revealing five other bodies ready for movement.

"_System resurrection complete. Body vitals are acceptable and bodies are ready for action. Please be careful, and kick some ass. Have a good day."_

Pein eyed the machine critically, thinking _Konan must have rigged it to say something like that…I'll have to get her to change that…maybe…probably not._ Pein mentally sweat dropped and watched with a critical eye as the five bodies were flexing their muscles.

Once the bodies were properly stretched and ready for war, Pein turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the bodies to disappear in a puff of smoke after him.

…

Once arriving in front of the base to meet Konan, Pein eyed said woman judgmentally.

"Haven't I told you before not to mess with my machines?" Pein asked stoically, watching Konan tense up at the mention of his machines.

"I-I don't know what you mean, Pein-sama…" Konan said innocently, looking to Pein from the corner of her eye with a pout set upon her lips.

Pein merely smirked. "Yeah. Right."

"Wait a minute." A voice said behind them.

Pein and Konan turned their heads to look at the new arrival.

"Sasori-san?" Konan asked calmly.

Sasori shuffled towards them in his scorpion puppet. The shuffling sound was the only sound until Sasori reached his leader and the only female Akatsuki so far.

"Here." Sasori said, extending his scorpion tail out towards Pein, who held his hand out for Sasori to drop the item in.

Once the item was dropped in Pein's hand, he brought it closer to him to see a vial of poison—a vial of dark purple poison which seemed to be bubbling the more Pein shook it.

"That is my newest poison. It has no cure, so please be careful when you use it." Sasori said, motioning his tail towards the poison in Pein's hand. "Please use that on Orochimaru. I don't even know what it will do to him fully." Sasori said, letting a quiet chuckle out at the end of his sentence.

Konan glanced uneasily at Pein.

"I won't promise you that I'll use it." Pein said calmly but with a small smirk. Inside his puppet, Sasori smirked back towards his leader.

"That's fine. If you don't use it on Orochimaru, then please bring it back and allow me to go fetch bodies to experiment with." Sasori offhandedly said, causing Konan to mentally shudder.

"Fine. Just don't do the experimenting around the base. You know how much all of us hate the smells that come from your….experimentations…" Pein said with a slight look of disgust upon his face.

Sasori let out a chuckle before turning around and beginning to head back to the base. Pein and Konan glanced at each other then spun around and began running towards the meeting point.

**-o-**

_Why is the world spinning?_ A lone girl thought to herself in her dungeon. _I have been a good girl all of my life—why is my world spinning?_

The door slammed open loudly, causing the girl to tense and open her eyes widely. "W-Who are you?" she asked hoarsely, causing the man entering her cell to grin at her lopsidedly.

"Well, _Princess_, our leader wants to speak with you." He said snidely, causing her to tense her body up even further. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the shackle keys with his right hand as he walked towards her. The walk to the girls tensed up body wasn't very long, but for the girl, every second counted.

_He's going to unshackle me and let me drop to the floor. That could knock me unconscious!_ The girl thought to herself, wondering how the guard could be so stupid. She may be drugged, but she was _still_ a kunoichi for heaven's sake! And a damn good one at that, too!

_Whoever has me obviously thinks of me as precious cargo, since I get food three times a day. Granted I can't eat it, but I suppose it is the thought that counts..._

The guard got close enough to her that she could smell the sake on him. _How disgusting_ she thought to herself.

He took her chin in his hand and grinned viciously at her. Though he didn't say anything, she could read his face. _"I will be your death" _his face read.

And it scared her. _Someone please help me...help me _survive!

**-o-**

"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune muttered to herself quietly when she entered the office, only to find an already passed out Hokage.

Shizune looked up to the heavens. "Kami-sama, wherever you are, please let us find Sakura...I don't think Tsunade-sama nor the rest of the villagers will make it much longer if this goes on..."

**-o-**

"Sensei?" a blonde, spiky haired boy-no _man_, asked softly. This man stood beside another man who had long, white hair. A hawk left their position by the air current which was sweeping past them on their left, but they paid it no heed, for their attention was attached on the scroll.

A Konoha hawk had just interrupted their travels. His sensei, Jiraya, had already read the scroll and even answered it back on another scroll, leaving the original scroll in their hands to destroy..

But it seemed Naruto was in the complete darkness as they turned around and rushed towards...

"Otogakure? Are we finally going to try to get Sasuke back?" Naruto asked excitedly, wondering if they, after three years of training, were finally going to try to get Sasuke back.

"Naruto." his sensei called, his white hair whipping in the wind as they ran at spectacular speeds.

"Yes, Sensei?" Naruto asked hopeful, hoping and praying to Kami-sama that his sensei would confirm his hopes.

Instead he shattered his hopes and possibly his dreams.

"Haruno Sakura has been captured by Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade has ordered for us to rescue Sakura, no matter the cost. We will have no back up" Jiraya looked back at his student, a tear in his right eye, though his student couldn't see that.

"If we see Sasuke, we have orders to execute him, in the name of Lady Tsunade."

Naruto stopped in his tracks and it seemed as if his world had tumbled off his shoulders and shattered on the dirtied floor.

"W-What? What're you saying, Sensei? S-Sasuke-teme would ne-never do something like that..." Naruto gulped, trying to keep his tears at bay, though he failed miserably.

His body tumbled to the ground, wounded from a mental wound.

"W-Why..." Naruto broken-heartedly asked to the broken world. "Why would he..."

Demonic red eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "SASUKE!"

**-o-**

"SASUKE!" a certain pink haired girl yelled once she caught an eyeful of her old crush. Tears dotted her vision. "WHY, SASUKE, WHY!" she screamed brokenheartedly towards the boy who she used to have feelings for.

"Shut up, Sakura. You're annoying." he said coldly, causing a tear to trickle down her face. She let out a heart-clinching scream which caused Sasuke's heart to nearly explode.

"I will never forgive you..." Sakura said coldly, raising her tear-streaked face for the boy to see.

Sasuke gulped. _Her eyes...is that a doujutsu?_ Sasuke thought to himself as he took witness to the black circles in her gray eyes. The anger faded from her eyes, and the seal took its place over her doujutsu once more, leaving her with dull, green eyes.

"I'll never forgive you..." she muttered to herself brokenly before she mentally curled up into herself. Her arms sagged by her side, the two Oto guards by her sides being the only things keeping her upright.

Sasuke looked at her coldly, though if you looked closely then you would see a certain softness in his eyes.

"I'll take her to Orochimaru." Sasuke said coldly towards the guards, looking at them dead in the eye. The guards tried to look away but couldn't.

"W-We had direct orders to take her to Orochimaru-sama, given to us by…him….self….Yes, Sasuke-sama. Please take her to Orochimaru-sama for us." The guard on Sakura's left said, seeing as the other one was too stupefied to talk. The guards began to walk away, leaving Sakura leaning against the wall.

Sasuke returned his eyes to onyx. He grabbed hold of Sakura's arm and, once the guards had turned the corner out-of-sight, he picked her up bridal-style and headed towards where Orochimaru was currently at.

Whenever he got to the room, Orochimaru sat up in his chair.

"Sasuke-kun? Why are you bringing her to me…" Orochimaru hissed out calmly, his hissing bringing out the S's in his sentences.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I may be allowing you to keep her captive so I can finally have a chance at Itachi, but I won't allow you to treat her like a prisoner." Sasuke said coldly, causing Orochimaru to roll his eyes and slouch down in his chair.

"Of course, whatever you want, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the broken girl in Sasuke's arms. "By the way, I see it went well between you and the girl?" Orochimaru asked with a sadistic amusement shining in his eyes.

Sakura's eyes met Orochimaru's and her eyes flickered to the gray with black rings, causing Orochimaru's eyes to snap back to a hardened form.

"Sasuke, leave her where you stand and leave. I wish to talk to her alone." Orochimaru calmly said, making Sasuke growl at him.

"I refuse. I will not leave her alone with you." Sasuke said coldly, finishing the second sentence with another growl.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes but stood up and walked towards the two anyway.

Sakura's breathe hitched as the world seemed to slow, when in reality it really didn't. She felt out of control, her emotions raging and her heart pounding.

"Leave...me alone..." Sakura said softly, trying to push away from Sasuke. Sasuke merely looked down at her coldly and held onto her tightly.

Sakura flinched lightly.

Orochimaru stopped directly in front of Sasuke and Sakura, staring down at Sakura with amusement and a scary and odd glint in his eye.

"I see…I'm sure he will be absolutely _devastated_ to hear that you have been captured, won't he…" Orochimaru hummed out loud enough for the two to hear.

Sasuke, thinking he was talking about Itachi, smirked viciously.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, had meant a whole other person in general. _Pein will be forced to come here, and when he does…._

Orochimaru cackled loudly and waved Sasuke off.

"If you don't want her in those prison cells, then she can stay with you in your room. Treat her kindly now, Sasuke-kun…" Orochimaru said before he disappeared into a poof.

Sasuke turned around casually, already used to Orochimaru poof'ing off at random.

Sasuke eyed Sakura unsympathetically before picking her up—bridal style, which caused her to yelp—and taking her to his bedroom, where he would attempt to treat her as his queen.

**-o-**

Three hours later, no matter how inhumanly possible it should have been, the four Akatsuki members met in Fire Country at their base. The first two to make it there were Pein and Konan since they were closer than Itachi and Kisame were. The two paced as Pein kept looking through Sakura's eyes so he could make sure that she was ok. He destroyed a tree when he saw how Sasuke was treating her.

"Itachi, Kisame, I expect a mission report of both missions from the two of you after we rescue my sister." Pein said stoically. Itachi and Kisame nodded before they turned towards the direction of Oto, both eager to get there.

"What is the plan, Leader-sama?" Itachi asked as he glanced behind him at Pein who was also looking at Oto.

Pein glanced at Itachi and nodded slightly. "Gore and mayhem, Itachi." Itachi snorted a chuckle softly before glancing to Kisame and nodding slightly. "Konan will be acting as our medic. Itachi, you and Konan are to go find Sakura while Kisame and I cause the gore and mayhem." Kisame whooped slightly before he went back to being angry.

The trio nodded and the four shot off.

Just after they began running at an unwaveringly rapid pace, Pein then threw out to Itachi, "Itachi, try to use your Sharingan as little as possible. Don't use any of the techniques of your Sharingan either. You need to focus on saving your eyesight more." Pein said towards the man sternly, causing Konan and Kisame to look between the two oddly.

"Yes, Leader-sama." Itachi affirmed hesitantly.

Kisame's teeth suddenly mashed together in anger. "Why're we dilly dallian'? Sakura-chan is kidnapped and you guys are just _jogging_ to get her?" Kisame growled out, causing the three people to look at him oddly.

"I can see through her eyes and hear through her ears, Kisame, and Itachi can tell Kuro to scope out the place. We are just covering our bases." Pein said in the tone of 'Are you trying to order me, your leader?' "I want to make sure the _snake_ is finally dead..." Pein growled out before his fists shook at his side which resulted in him having to throw them towards two trees by his side which exploded into splinters. Kisame, shocked, stumbled forward on the tree branches in front of him before he regained his footing and plowed ahead a few feet.

"When we get to the hide out, I will go to Sakura. I will leave Kuro with you, Leader-sama. He will show you to Orochimaru and give you updates on Sakura as they come." Itachi stated softly.

Pein nodded to him before he turned to Kisame. "_Now_ we may cease the jogging, as you have called it, and push the running. Let's go." Pein said before he basically blasted off, leaving a tree bark cloud behind him as the branch he had been on splintered.

The three glanced to each other before dashing off as well. Only Konan glanced back at the fluttering down branch, only to think _Poor branch. Sorry branch, Pein is just angry. _

**-o-**

Sakura stirred on the bed that she found herself chained to. There were chakra ropes which tied to each other. She wasn't drugged anymore, though, which was good. She didn't have her chakra, though, which sucked.

She yawned and stretched with what limited room she had, unknowingly giving the man in her room a show of skin.

She yawned again and looked around the room, only just now seeing the guard. She narrowed her eyes at the half-lidded man.

"Gawrsh ma'am, you sure are pretty!" Said the man with a goofy smile. She looked at him oddly.

"Thank you...I think." The man stood up and walked over to her. She looked at him cautiously.

"Orochi-sama told me to look after you while he trained Sasuke this evening! Sasuke will be back later tonight~" said the strange man.

Sakura continued to stare at him, although this time she was looking at him oddly.

"Orochi-sama?" She asked softly, wondering if she heard that right.

"Hai~"

Sakura stared even more oddly at him before glancing at his vest, which strangely had a number stitched into it instead of the usual name.

"So...what is your name?" Asked Sakura. The man pointed to the number on his vest.

"I never had no name, miss! Orochi-sama just calls me 42!" He said happily before mock saluting towards the girl, which including for him to puff his chest out.

She smiled and let out a small giggle. "You're funny. Can I name you?" Sakura asked, her instinctual motherly-side coming out of her.

"Why would you want to do that, ma'am?" The man asked childishly, making Sakura question Orochimaru's purpose for the man.

"42 is a number, not a name, so you should have a real name!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, faking her excitement, of course. She lifted herself up as much as possible.

"Oh...it isn't?" The man, 42, asked softly. Sakura looked into his tear-jerking, watery eyes and smiled softly.

"That's ok. We can name you! What's your favorite animal?" Sakura asked kindly.

42 thought for a minute before he looked excited.

"I like birds!" He said happily, going to sit on the bed beside her. He bounced up and down on the mattress in excitement.

"Birds? Why do you like birds and what's your favorite bird?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I like birds..." 42 seemed to think about his answer seriously for a moment, even going into the Sasuke-like pose from back when Team 7 was still 13 years old. He sat with both feet on the ground, his elbows on his knees, and his fists clutched together loosely and his chin resting on his hands. He sat that way for a few moments in thought before his dulled eyes looked back at Sakura with excited, bright eyes.

"I like birds because they can fly and be free! No one can hold them down!" He exclaimed, making Sakura smile. "I love the mean but pretty ones. I like the raven a lot" he said to her, wondering why she was asking.

"Ah! I see" Sakura nodded and said "your name can be...hm.." She said to him, only to pause at the end to get her thoughts together. She looked at his overly-excited face and smiled to herself. "You can be...Kurasuouja!" She said happily.

42 wooped in happiness before he looked confused at her. "What's that mean?" He asked her. She smiled.

"Well, Kurasuouja, it means 'King of Ravens'" she said before getting squeezed tightly by a man twice her size.

_I wonder why Orochimaru has a man here that has the mind of a three-year-old. _Sakura thought to herself.

Kurasuouja suddenly stood up and quickly walked to the door.

"I'm gonna go tell Orochi-sama what my new name is!" He exclaimed before darting out the door, only for it to quickly—and loudly—close and lock behind him.

She laughed to herself briefly before she caught sight of something moving in the shadows. After a few moments of waiting with anxiety running through her veins, the head of a familiar bird stuck out of the shadows.

"Kuro-kun!" Sakura whispered excitedly and as quietly as possible.

Kuro slid further out of the shadows and landed on Sakura's chest, looking her deep in the eyes.

"Sakura, I am coming for you. Do not try to escape. I will save you." Said Itachi through the bird.

"I-Itachi?" Sakura asked shocked.

Kuro nodded his head. "I will be there in about three hours. Maybe two if I'm fast enough." Itachi said before Kuro suddenly dashed back into the shadows when her door busted open. She looked into the furious eyes of Orochimaru.

"I demand that you heal my arms, Sakura-chan." Orochimaru hissed angrily towards the girl. "In return for tainting one of my experiments with your gab, you must heal my arms!" Orochimaru demanded in anger, reaching over and yanking her arm towards him so he could get a cuff off.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "I have no chakra." Sakura taunted.

Orochimaru chuckled "Who says you don't? My dear child, your chakra is only, as you can say…_locked away_. I will bring it back to you if you agree to heal my arms."

"And if I don't agree to your idiotic deal? What would I get in return if I _did_ heal your arms—which, I will have you know, I am not even considering at this point." Sakura asked with narrowed eyes.

Orochimaru chuckled softly. He leaned down and whispered something into her ear. Something which shocked her to the absolute core.

"I know who your family is, Sakura. I could help you…find them." Orochimaru hissed into her ear, his tongue accidentally grazing the tip of her ear. She shivered in disgust but looked at him in thought.

"Oh really?" She asked him in a hum.

"Oh yes." Orochimaru said with a smirk. He then leaned down and whispered something else into her ear. The moment a certain word left his tongue and entered into her brain, she felt something click then snap in her brain. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she convulsed for a moment in a seizure before she finally fell into a coma.

Orochimaru's eyes widened but a small smirk lifted itself onto his face. _Let's see what you do now, Pein…_

**-o-**

Pein stopped and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground in a black out at the aftershock of his sister entering a coma.

A single sentence flittered into his brain for those short seconds of being blacked out..

"_I'll give you a hint, Sakura-chan…have you ever heard of _Akatsuki_?"_

**A/N OMG I AM NOT DEAD! =O I promise I'm not….P-Please don't kill me…D= I'm soooo sorry it took me so long to complete this chapter! School started and it IS my Senior year in high school. Granted, it isn't that stressful, but I also achieved gaining a boyfriend, so my time has been surrounding him. QUE THE NUMBAHHHS!**

**1) Girls, if there is a guy who is chasing you (or vice versa) and want you to get in a relationship with them…give them a chance. =o My current boyfriend has had his eye on me since third grade. We are now both seniors in high school. I finally decided to give him a chance in October of 2012, and right now it is February 26, 2013! Yay!~**

**2) Kurasuouja! I have absolutely NO idea where he came from…..Seriously. I actually wrote the part with him in it first with Sasuke in it. But then I decided to add a twist. Maybe he will take on a different role later on….what do you guys think?**

**3) COOKIES! GLORIOUS COOKIES! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS!**

**4) I was thinking about actually making a little one-shot deal…I realize that a few people wanted to see the Naruto vs. Sasuke fight in the Chunnin Exams….so I am thinking about writing that….idk. You guys tell me. It will be more of a serious, but not actually part of the story line one-shot dealy mahopper. I have no idea what you would really call it…but anyway.**

**5) This chapter is only 10 pages…! But I need to go to sleep so I decided to end this chapter early…sorry guys…! **

**6) Uhhh…any spelling, Japanese, grammar, etc. mistakes that you find…please tell me. Either in a review or a pm, I don't care. I know that no one really does this (only one person has corrected me on my Japanese [I give a billion cookies to Alexia Shiki for correcting my Nee-san!]) but still. Please guys, help me correct my mistakes…? I kind of want to be a writer whenever I possibly can…My boyfriend is helping me to write a book or two now. Both of different series and types, but they aren't really going anywhere since I cannot keep my head in them…**

**7) Anyhoo guys. I hope you guys enjoy this update! I'll start on the next chapter ASAP and will try to get it done ASAP! I would even write it during school…but I don't keep a backpack or anything on me…it's just me, my purse, and I…Ho~ Ho~ Ho~ (Kudos and cookies to whoever can guess what anime/manga that's off of~)**

**I'm signing off now! Have a good night y'all~**

**~/Takai-sama\~**

**XOXOXOXO**


	14. The Disentanglement

**A special dedication to: emmawalters090! Not only did she review on every single chapter of PoS, she is also the 100****th**** reviewer! Wooo! Major cookies to you, Emma! Because you're majorly awesome, this chapter goes to you! There will be a lot of drama in this one, but I'll try to add some moments that you keep asking for! Have fun reading the chapter!**

_Pain of Siblings Chapter 14: The Disentanglement_

She felt confused and in the clouds. Her dream was a small screen with memories...memories she had missed. Oddly enough, every once in a while the screen would flicker and then seemingly grow invisible wings and fly off, only to be replaced with another, smaller screen.

After seeming hours, when she could finally look down, seeing as she was frozen in place, she saw a symbol on the rug...a symbol that looked odd and out of place to her.

The symbol on the floor below her was a star, it seemed, except it had two of the tips ripped off. It looked like a regular five-tipped star, just with two jagged edges and three regular tips.

She looked back onto the screen only to see that it had disappeared and had been replaced with a man-a man that she knew very well but could not seem to remember.

"Sakura..." murmured the red-haired man. He looked at her with such softness that she wanted to run to him and hug him so hard that his bones would break. She could do it to! She hadn't trained with Tsunade-shishou for nothing!

Her eyes narrowed at the man in anger. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. She pouted at him then.

He held a hand up and pressed it against something as he tried to reach for her. His eyes narrowed in sadness before he pressed his forehead against the invisible material between them. Her eyes widened when she realized something...

_He can't see me... _She thought to herself, her heart clinching in sadness.

His lips began to move although she couldn't read his lips as he spoke to himself. Suddenly he began to slip through the floor, causing ripples to flow through the floor. At first the ripples hit the invisible barrier around her but just before she fell into the blackness of the floor like the man she felt herself bob up and down lightly as the ripples turned into larger ripples under her feet.

Then, there was nothing. She knew nothing, and she was nothing. Only memories remained. Broken bits of memories, all waiting to be reassembled.

Broken memories.

Memories.

_Nothing._

**-o-**

His eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in the scents and sounds and the brightness of his surroundings. A smile slowly stretched onto his face, the peacefulness of the forest around him soothed all his worries and anger...his eyes closed again but this time, not for long.

"Sakura!" He sat up on the forest floor, his eyes wide and his breathe coming out in pants.

"Whoa, easy there, Leader-sama" a deep voice to his right said. The man whipped his head towards the new voice and his memories flooded back to him in a torrent. He pushed gravity around him, shoving the two away from him. He looked at the raven haired man once he had successfully stood up, ignoring the through of annoyance and the squeak of his female friend.

"Where is Kuro at now?" Pein asked coldly, causing confusion.

"Watching Orochimaru." Said Itachi, his face etched with only the slightest amount of confusion.

Pein sped off suddenly, causing the three to quickly catch up with him.

"What has happened, Pein-sama?" Konan asked once she caught up with him.

Pein glared out at the area in front of him.

"Orochimaru has spoken a forbidden word to my sister." His three companions looked at him in confusion.

Pein didn't even glance at his fellow members as he ran and explained what had happened.

"The seal I placed into Sakura's mind has a few keywords. When certain words or actions are spoken even around her, the word or action acts as a part of the seal and acts as a trigger. Each word or action which happens helps to slowly unseal her memories and abilities." Now he glanced at Itachi with a slightly sad look in his eyes, letting Itachi know that he hated how the seal was affecting his sister.

Then, Pein looked down and his eyes became down-shadowed. "Orochimaru spoke one of the trigger words—which was Akatsuki." He clinched his fists in anger.

"What will happen, now that Akatsuki has been opened up to her?" Konan asked Pein softly, knowing not to disturb him in his distracted state.

"Sakura, as we speak, is losing what memories she had gathered. Currently, she is in a coma. The seal had a safety measure. If a trigger word or action was introduced to Sakura too early, her seal would snap over her memories and erase them all over again." Itachi's eyes widened.

"A…coma?" Itachi asked horrified. Kisame and Konan looked at each other, only to see the same expression on their face—horror.

"Why would you set that safety measure, Pein?" Konan asked coldly, wondering why he would do such a thing.

"Think what would happen if the seal was completely broken before she was sixteen. What if someone told her everything about us before we were ready?" Pein asked rhetorically. Konan 'ooh'ed in understanding and Kisame merely let out a grunt of acknowledgment.

"We must hurry. If I don't get to her in time, her memories will be completely erased and we don't want that, do we?" Pein asked, once again rhetorically. The four shot off even faster than before.

**-o-**

"Kabuto!" A hiss-like voice called angrily, causing the said man to jump. He was currently examining Sakura's sleeping body.

"Y-Yes, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto stuttered loudly enough to be heard.

"Have you still not figured out what is the matter with her?" Orochimaru hissed in annoyance. Kabuto hesitated then shook his head negatively. Orochimaru groaned then roared in anger and punched a wall and stalked out of the room. Kabuto's body shook for a moment before he looked down at the slumbering pink haired girl.

A sinister grin appeared on his face.

**-o-**

"Jiraya-sensei?" A certain blonde headed man asked his sensei. A glance was thrown his way but otherwise he was ignored.

"Do we really have to kill him if we see him...?" Natural asked quietly as they stood at the entrance to Oto, guards fallen over each other at their feet. Most were silent, afraid of getting attacked again. The ones who weren't silent were kicked into deathly silence.

"Those were her orders, Naruto." Jiraya said softly, resting a hand on his shoulders. Naruto looked at the ground. Jiraya was sure he was crying.

Suddenly, Naruto's head raised and if you looked into his eyes, you would see blue irises with a slanted pupil.

"He's mine." Natural said, his voice slightly deeper and a tad scratchier from the influence of Kyuubi. Jiraya looked down at natural and let a sly grin trace itself onto his lips.

"It's time to party, Naruto!"

"Hai, Sensei!"

**-o-**

Oto was now in their sights. The Kyuubi boy and his master was to their right, but they ignored him for now. Pein didn't even glance in their general direction until they popped out of the woods beside them.

"What are you guys doing here!?" Naruto shouted angrily. He would have begun racing towards them in anger if it wasn't for Jiraya's hand on his shoulder.

Jiraya eyed the four Akatsuki members. _Something looks very familiar about the blue and orange haired people..._ Jiraya thought to himself.

Only Itachi glanced at Naruto and Jiraya, and even that was merely fleeting.

"I assume you are here for the girl as well?" Pein asked boldly, causing Naruto and Jiraya to tense up for a fight. Pain remained looking towards Oto, his fists clutched at his side. Jiraya took note of his aggravated stance. _We don't need to piss them off…_

"How do you know-" Naruto began in a yell but Jiraya merely hushed by putting a hand over his mouth.

"You would be correct. But how do you know about her?" Jiraya's eyes narrowed, showing his obvious distrust.

Pein was silent before he turns his head the other way to look at Itachi. Pein nodded at Itachi and Itachi nodded back. His fellow members took a step away from him so he did concentrate.

Jiraya tensed. All of a sudden, Itachi's eyes began to change. Jiraya cursed and yelled at Naruto to not look into his eyes.

Itachi merely let a small smirk drift onto his lips before he began to raise his hand. Jiraya and Naruto looked at the raising hand. They heard two words before they both fell unconscious after looking at the pointing index finger.

"Got you."

The group of Akatsuki members then raced off towards Oto, all four worrying about their beloved cherry blossom, and all four not looking back at the unconscious Konoha ninja.

**-o-**

"Experiment X2-Q3 is showing favorable results after a dose of X was delivered directly into his blood stream." The click of a tape recorder resounded throughout the small room. The man holding the tape recorder smirked before letting out a small chuckle. He brushed his white bangs out of his face and readjusted the glasses on his face with his middle finger.

Kabuto looked upwards towards his bangs and let out a small puff of air. "I've been in this laboratory for so many weeks straight, now, that my bangs have grown out again." Kabuto signed but looked down at his comatose patient.

He clicked the record button on his tape recorder once more after he cleared his throat. "Experiment X2-Q3 showed favorable results after a direct dose of X was delivered to his blood stream. X2-Q3 has been in a natural comatose state for approximately 36 hours. X2-Q3 was forcibly awoken after X was entered into his blood stream. Forced awakening caused him to survive but his mental state seems to diminish with every dose. Patient will soon be brain dead." Kabuto glanced at the man's elbow joint where his once bulging vein looked nearly black from the misuse. The multiple needle holes showed for the misuse. "X2-Q3 has been injected with X approximately ten times. I predict the next dose will cause him to reach the point of deadening his brain. Will require a new naturally comatose experiment soon."

He clicked the recorder off again and set it down before holding up a vial with a large, red "X" written on the front on a plain white label. He opened a drawer behind him and retrieved a syringe. He stuck the syringe into the vial and withdrew approximately 5 mL of the liquid into the syringe.

He went around the table and made sure that the man's straps where still tightly in place. He then walked over to the man's left arm and held it up before lightly tapping the vein to make it bulge so he could inject the liquid better. He slid the needle into the man's vein and watched as his eye lids began to flicker.

Faster and faster they flickered until the man went completely still. Kabuto waited a moment then began to reach for the man's neck to check his vitals.

But then the man's eyelids flung open and, although his pupils dilated to the size of a pin prick at the light, he shot his eye towards Kabuto. Kabuto nearly felt scared of the man if it wasn't for the restraints.

A ripping sound echoed throughout the room which caused Kabuto to tense and look towards the man's arm. He saw all of the muscles in the man's arm bulge and pulsate underneath his pasty skin, showing the amount of strength he was using. Kabuto quickly reached underneath the table for the metal straps he keeps underneath the table but was halted by the most horrific scream he had ever heard.

The mad man on the table was staring at him with only irises, his pupils nearly nonexistent. His mouth was wide in mid-scream and his head was tilted ever so slightly towards the table to allow for more air to push through his wind pipes.

"Help...me"

Kabuto let out a sigh of breathe and placed a hand over his heart, stilling the wild beast within him.

He smirked evilly. _Let's see how the medic in Sakura takes this…_

**-o-**

Orochimaru paced in the small white room. His arms uselessly hanging at his side, annoying him even further.

The figure in the middle of the room—laying on a steel table with a thin white cloth covering it—seemed to be asleep, although he knew better.

He paced in annoyance at how long the girl could be in a coma. Pein, he considers, must have placed some heavy seals in her mind.

Orochimaru eyed the pinkette with interest and paused in his pacing. _What if I took a look into her mind…let's see just what kind of seal this is…_

**-o-**

Elsewhere, close by to Oto, stood the four nin, covering in darkness with flowing red clouds.

Their rice-pickers hats low over their head, revealing only their eyes. Further in the distance laid five more nin, all covered with the same darkness and flowing red clouds. These stayed far under any other ninja's radar, only showing up on their own radar's.

All nine of the ninja's eyes were trained on the village of Oto, scouting out for any possible enemies to avoid. Seeing plenty, seven of the ninja's vanished to wreck the village of Oto, leaving many people dead and many more in a panic.

The two left outside of the village glanced at each other and began to slowly enter the carnage of the village called Oto. Buildings on fire burned around them as they calmly walked towards the significantly larger building in the center of the village. The building remained untouched by even the dust around it.

The two ninjas, their cloaks of darkness now whipping around them, entered the building through the front door, the male counterpart kicking the door in. The people inside, once running around, stood still and in silence, waiting for their demise.

"We demand to know the way into Orochimaru's hideout…" A feminine voice called throughout the building.

The people inside had a spectrum of reactions—all the way from panic to compliance. A few ran to the couple and ushered them a certain way. A way which led into the main office, which was untouched by a sound of the outside world. No one commented on why—or even how—the outside world was blocked out completely.

The people who urged the Akatsuki members into the room shut the door and turned the lights out. The windows turned black with ink and a wall opened to their right.

"G-Go through there!"

"Follow the stairs!"

"Don't kill me!"

Those statements rang throughout the Akatsuki's ear drums. The two nin looked at each other before stepping inside the wall, completely missing how the people who led them into the wall looked at them with wild smirks and evil eyes.

The wall closed behind them, completely cutting off their ties to the other world.

**-o-**

**A/N Oh my god, guys, I am sooo sorry for being away for sooo long! **

**First I lost interest (I do that…a lot)**

**Then I started to work…at McDonald's.**

**THEN I started college..I haven't had ANY time to write, what with juggling boyfriend, job, and college!**

**Anyhoo, onward towards the Numbers!**

**1) So…I went in and read some of my notes on how I wanted PoS to originally go..I admit, some has changed…for the better. I read the end and OMG…Do I have to TWIST for you guys! I'm so excited about it, I just want to get to the end already! But sadly, I have A LOT I have to write in this arc before I can get to the very end of this story!**

**So guys, based on what you guys have seen, and what you guys will see (I plan to write a lot more now…) do you guys think I should make a sequel? If so, give me some ideas! Sure, that would be a LOOONG way off. But hey, who knows, I might go ahead and plan a sequel or even put whatever ideas you guys give me into this story…idk. I kinda doubt it (since I have this whole thing thought out) but you never know, it might happen.**

**2) Guys, we hit the 100 review mark! Now we are at around…121 reviews as I type up this review (Date: 10/22/2013. Time: 12:13 AM.) **

**I love you guys! This is my most reviewed, most viewed, most almost EVERYTHING! I'm so happy, you guys wouldn't believe it! **

**3) I am soo sorry that this is so short…but I wanted to give you guys at least a little something to chew on while I try to write out the next chapter. D= Please don't hate me, guys! Lol. **

**Word count: 2501**

**Word count (A/Ns included) : 2923**

**Yeah…sooo sorry. Lol. I just really wanted the next chapter to have its own thing I guess…this chapter was a little bit of everything. Just to be a little different, right?**

**Anyhoo guys, I'll let you guys go. Please don't forget about me!**

**See ya~**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	15. READ! The Adventure

**I know, I know, I hate doing this (putting the author notes at the top) but I have one thing to say…On another tab, on , search "Not Sick." It is written by Ser Serendipity. She does an AMAZING job telling another part of Naruto—what would happen if Itachi had not had his disease at all? It begins with the final Itachi vs. Sasuke battle…except it doesn't end the way we all know it to end. Events spiral out of control and the manga fades away from your mind, leaving only you and the fanfiction. It is the most amazing thing I have ever read….**

**So, if Ser Serendipity happens to be reading this fanfiction, then I dedicate this chapter to them. I just hope they like the fanfiction!**

**P.S. The authors note that is taking the place of a chapter will be deleted, so sorry for any confusion. For the next few days, I will leave the word "READ" as the newest chapter's title, along with "The Adventure" so you know this IS a new chapter. Sorry for any inconvenience!**

_Pain of Siblings Chapter 15: The Adventure_

Words blurred on the page she was reading. She rubbed her eyes but only seemed to make the hallucination worse—or, at least, she assumed so since the words were now beginning to do the hula around her head.

Tsunade groaned and slammed her head onto the desk, causing another groan to burst from the woman. Her eyes fluttered opened and she turned her head to the left to look out the window. Outside she saw rain clouds but no rain. Her eyes drifted shut and she set a green-glowing hand upon her own head and healed her late-forming headache.

The door creaked open, causing Tsunade's eyebrow to twitch.

"T-Tsunade-sama?" Shizune called hesitantly, wondering if her mentor was sleeping. Her reply was a muffled huff which caused Shizune to sigh and step into the room. She softly shut the door behind her and began walking towards her distraught mentor.

"What?" Tsunade called out harshly, causing Shizune to huff as well.

"The hospital needs you, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said as stoic as she possibly could.

Tsunade looked up from the desk and eyed Shizune for a moment before sighing.

"Fine." Tsunade said before standing up and sliding her Hokage robe back on. She hated to sit on it, so why not drape it over the back of her chair?

As Shizune and Tsunade quickly walked to the hospital, Shizune decided to watch her mentor and see if she could figure out what was wrong with her.

"Tsunade-sama, what's the matter?" Shizune asked, clutching a clipboard to her chest. She had left Tonton at her house that day, since she could feel something was wrong with the air.

Tsunade sighed and looked up into the sky.

"I can't hardly concentrate without knowing anything about Sakura." Shizune's eyes widened slightly before a sad look came across her face. Tsunade closed her eyes and places her hands within her sleeves. "Is she alright? Why would Sasuke take her? More importantly, why would Orochimaru take her?" Tsunade asked rhetorically, having wondered these questions ever since Sakura had gotten kidnapped.

Shizune suddenly stopped and put a hand onto Tsunade's shoulder, causing said woman to stop and open her eyes and look at Shizune.

Shizune didn't say anything, just pointed to an orange and yellowed frog sitting in front of them.

Tsunade's eyes widened as she ran forward and grabbed up what just had to be Jiraya's summon.

What she read, though, caused her more stress than she had the patience for. She headed back for her office, telling Shizune to do what she can at the hospital.

**-o-**

At that same time, Kakashi and Anko sat at a dango shop, sitting in the booth with a single plate of dango between them so they could share, even if Kakashi hadn't even touched anything.

His book was open in front of him, although he couldn't read a single word. He had been on the same page since he started trying to read it this morning when he woke up.

Anko, obviously noticing his mood, decided to say nothing. She could tell what he was thinking of—their mutual good friend and student Sakura. The last dango stick laid on the plate, but Anko couldn't make herself even look at it.

"Where do you think he took her?" Anko wondered out loud, hoping she would jar Kakashi from his thoughts. Kakashi, hearing her question, decided to stay quiet for a moment.

"I am assuming to Oto…to Orochimaru." Kakashi said, looking at Anko from the corner of his eye. Anko sucked in a breath and let it go slowly.

"Yeah, that's the only conclusion I can come up with. Sadly." Anko said before huffing and cross her arms in front of her chest.

Kakashi turned his head to her and stared at her for the longest time before a poof interrupted both of their thought processes. The poof, as they both looked in that direction, was one of Tsunade's personal ANBU.

"Hatake Kakashi, the Hokage has requested your presence. And she says it is about Sakura." The ANBU said before nodding and disappearing.

Kakashi looked at Anko before disappearing without a word, knowing what Anko's look said to him.

Get going, you asshole.

**-o-**

With a poof, Kakashi appeared in the Hokage's office, successfully scaring Tsunade into throwing her rather large of paper into the air.

Tsunade huffed and slammed her head onto the desk in pure agony. She slowly got up and glared at Kakashi while she began to pick up the papers and organzing them on the desk.

She snorted a kicked something out from underneath her desk. She glanced at Kakashi as he picked up what it was.

A rock seemed to be engraved with letters…words…

"What!?" Kakashi said startled, holding onto his mask in shock.

Tsunade raised her eyebrow at him over her glasses. "I am just as shocked as you are."

Kakashi looked at the rock and kept reading the encryption over and over.

"**Akatsuki is invading Oto. Oto has Sakura. Take caution. All seem pissed." **

"'All seem pissed'? Who is 'all'?" Kakashi asked Tsunade with a raised eyebrow. He set the rock on top of her paperwork and she eyed him for a moment.

"Akatsuki." Tsunade said simply, a twitch of her pen being the only sign Kakashi could see of her discomfort with the situation.

"What are we going to do?" Kakashi said sternly, causing Tsunade to glance up at him and take her glasses off. She put her pen down and pointed her glasses at him.

"This will be _very_ dangerous, Kakashi. This is very stupid to do, actually." She smirked.

"I need you to pick a team of people. Four people will be going."

**-o-**

"So why is she only sending four people to scout Oto for Sakura? Isn't the entire Akatsuki there?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi with a twitch of his eyebrow. Kakashi and Shikamaru were in front of the group of four. Ino was in the middle and Choji was in the back.

"It is all we can really spare. We aren't ready to take on the Akatsuki yet." Kakashi glared at the space in front of him. The four of them speeding through the forest towards Oto didn't really allow for him to glare at one specific thing.

"But why only four?" Shikamaru asked.

Kakashi was silent for a moment. "In the case of the Akatsuki doing battle with us, I will be the decoy and you three will run. Hopefully with Sakura." Kakashi said softly. Shikamaru stared at him with widened eyes before snorting.

"We're all dead aren't we?" Shikamaru asked lazily, wondering why the Hokage would send them on a suicide mission.

"If we meet the Akatsuki…yes."

Surprisingly, Ino stayed quiet the entire trip and Choji didn't even think of grabbing his chips from his bag. Both thought only of reserving their strengths for the upcoming suicide mission.

**-o-**

Back at Oto…

Kisame and Konan walked through the tunnel at a fast pace. Kisame kept growling and his Samehada dragged the ground, causing a high pitched squealing noise to echo in the hallway. Konan glared at the space in front of her, her chakra swirling around her to search for nearby chakra.

"Kisame." Konan said before stopping. Kisame stopped and looked at her curiously. A piece of her hair lifted up and turned into what looked like a blue paper senbon. She threw her arm out in front of her in a certain direction and the senbon flew in that direction.

From where it pierced the wall, black goo dribbled down the wall, causing the wall to hiss slightly. Kisame got the hint of what she was saying and eagerly released his blood lust. His bloodlust caused the walls to shake slightly, resulting in more creatures to fall off of the wall.

All of the sudden, the walls expanded and the hallway they were in turned into a large room. One of the creatures sat up and readied himself for an attack.

Konan cursed. "Fucking genjutsu!" she yelled before dodging some black stuff which was spat from one creature.

The black blood from the first creature Konan pierced laid forgotten on a wall far from them, resulting in neither of the Akatsuki members to have any idea what they were up against. The hissing blood went ignored.

Seven creatures lagged towards them. All of them had gray skin with their irises being very wide and having no pupil. Their veins showed on their skin as black, resulting in an odd pattern showing on their skin.

Konan and Kisame backed up a little bit. Kisame raised his Samehada to strike one of them but Konan stopped him.

"Kisame, look." Konan said, pointing at one of the creatures.

It looked like it was pushing something up from his feet. His black veins pulsed and seemed to lighten and then darken in a wave from his feet up. A retching sound came out of its opening mouth, making Konan and Kisame tense. All of a sudden the other six creatures lurched forward and grabbed onto their arms and held them still. The two believed that they could escape the hold at any time, which is why they allowed the creatures to hold on to them.

The two tensed and began putting chakra into their arms and feet but something odd happened—their chakra was being sucked out of their own bodies by the hands of the creatures.

Suddenly, the single creature started to seemingly drool this sort of black gunk. When the black gunk touched the floor, though, a hissing sound resounded through the room. Konan and Kisame cursed under their breath and began to struggle even more in the grips of the creatures.

As soon as the two were released from the grips of the creatures, the drooling creature spat out a massive amount of black goo at them.

Konan jumped to the left and Kisame jumped to the right. Konan cursed under her breath when a small amount of goo got onto her arm. She clutched onto her arm and held a shaky hand over her wound. Green chakra enveloped her arm as she healed herself.

Kisame yelled over to Konan "Go get Sakura, I'll fight off these guys!" before hitting one of the creatures with a swing of Samehada. Surprisingly black goo spurted out of the creatures. Kisame barely dodged the black goo and cursed when he heard a hiss come off of his sword. At first it seemed like his sword might melt but then the scales on Samehada shook and the black goo flung off. The creature stood up with a gaping wound.

Kisame smirked. "Not immortal, are ya' bitches!"

Konan rolled her eyes before running through the door behind the creatures after Kisame effectively got all of their attention by conjuring up a large wave.

"Don't get in the water with them, Kisame!" Konan called back before she ran further down the hallway.

She failed to hear the sound of crashing as Kisame jumped into the water with the creatures.

**-o-**

Kabuto jerked slightly. He looked up at his master, who was sitting in his throne in the dead center of the complex.

"Master, they have met the X-Creatures." Kabuto spoke out in the silent room.

Orochimaru chuckled a snake-like chuckle and smiled evilly. A long, thin tongue flicked out of his mouth and licked his own lips.

"I see. Do you think they will win?" Orochimaru asked his apprentice, sitting in a chair in a large training room in the middle of the complex. Kabuto stood in front of him, his back to his master as he stared out at the direction of the current fight going on.

"Because these X-Creatures are proto-types…yes, I believe they will win…depending, of course, of who goes against them." Kabuto hummed out, wondering how his X-Creatures were fairing and who they were fighting against.

"It doesn't matter. We will see who our enemy is very shortly." Orochimaru called out happily, wondering when Pein would show up.

**-o-**

In another part of the underground complex, a clone of Kabuto stood over the unconscious Sakura, a needle full of X in his hand.

"Well, _Sakura-chan, _let's see how you handle this…" Kabuto cackled loudly before injecting the needle into Sakura's vein, causing Sakura's eyes to shoot open and her green eyes to disappear into purple rings before going back to green, her pupils enlarged. Her mouth opened and a scream escaped, with a small trail of blood leaking between her lips.

**-o-**

On the edge of Oto, Pein fell to his knees and coughed out a small amount of blood. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell into a puddle of mud with his face turned just enough that he would drown.

Itachi, the only one within the vicinity, heard the dreaded coughs and raced towards his downed leader.

When he arrived, he saw a puddle of blood under his leaders head and a small trail of blood traveling from the edge of his lip into the puddle.

"Leader-sama!" Itachi called out in a startled tone. The first thing he did when he made it to his leader was check for vital signs. He reached down and felt for a pulse in his leader's neck, only at first to hear nothing. He listened for a moment only to hear the very faint pitter patter of his heart.

So his leader was alive, but just barely. He needed Konan…

Just at that moment, his ring began to glow.

"_Itachi."_ A female voice called through his ring. Itachi looked through it and sighed.

"Konan." He said, noticing how Pein softly jerked after he said her name.

"_I need you in here. It seems that Kabuto and Orochimaru have been experimenting with people and the experiments are quite deadly. I need some help in here. Kisame is fighting seven and I am currently running from seven more."_ Konan said through the ring.

Itachi bent down and looked at Pein. "Konan I have a problem up here. Pein is unconscious."

Konan seemed to sound shocked _"Unconscious? How? Did someone get to him?"_

"I don't know. I heard his coughs and ran here as fast as possible. He is bleeding via his mouth." Itachi said cautiously, lifting Pein up in to a sitting position.

"_Damn. Leave a clone there and I will leave a clone here. I will switch places with you when you get here. Go into the kage building and go into the main office. Turn the lights off and you will see the wall which you can walk through. Hurry. They're beginning to catch up to me." _ Konan said before she shut the connection with Itachi.

Itachi cursed and began walking away, leaving a clone in his place to watch over Pein's body.

**-o-**

Kisame stuck Samehada into the wall and pounced up onto his beloved sword. He cracked a grin at his enemies and stuck his tongue out at them.

There were six creatures left, leaving him to believe that he had a chance at winning.

The water was below them, the room acting as a bowl. The creatures were under the water, causing Kisame to become a little agitated that they weren't dying in the water.

Kisame eyed his enemies, wondering what weakness they had—other than having to smash their head.

_They don't look to be breathing under the water, but they aren't making any movements to leave the water to get oxygen…what are these creatures? Are they even remotely human?_ Kisame thought to himself after he made note of the lack of movements in the creature's chests.

Kisame also noticed, though, that the water seemed to be getting blacker and blacker the longer the creatures stayed in the water.

All of a sudden one of the creatures quite literally floated to the bottom of the man-made pond, his veins becoming the same color as his skin.

"What happened?" Kisame wondered out loud to himself before he noticed that all six of the other creatures were beginning to flash. Kisame's eyes widened before he yelled out "Shit!" and used the chakra in his feet to run on the walls. He jerked Samehada out of the wall and placed his beloved sword back onto his back.

**-o-**

Itachi followed Konan's directions, startled with how calm everyone in the main building was. He thought about staying to see what was wrong but went into the main office and turned out the lights.

He walked through the wall and headed down the hallway.

A few minutes into the run, he almost fell into a huge vat of water before he stopped. He saw Kisame and almost called out to him, except he saw six creatures in the water. Kisame spotted him and sent him a quick thought through his ring.

'_Itachi, run over the roof of the room and continue to Konan. The only way to kill these things is to smash its head!'_

Itachi nodded at Kisame and followed Kisame's directions, confused as to who the enemies were and as to what was going on exactly.

As he ran over the roof, he almost failed to notice the large amount of black goo heading his way. He jumped onto a wall, which just happened to be close to him, and successfully dodged the goo. He then heard a terrible hissing from the spot that the goo hit and looked at the spot—only to be horrified.

There was no ceiling, only dripping goo along with what looked to be rocks, which is what, apparently, was just above the ceiling.

He easily slid off of the wall and into the doorway where he sped off towards where he felt Konan.

A few minutes later, he found her and she looked to be cornered.

It was a dead end room and the seven creatures kept spitting goo at her and she looked to be burnt in some places, although her skin was healed but her clothes revealed what had actually happened.

"Konan!" Itachi called out calmly, his eyes widening when the creatures turned to him and hissed at him.

"Itachi!" Konan said, holding a hand out to him when the monsters began to glow.

"Konan, go to Pein. Kisame is dealing with the creatures in the room you left him in. The only way to kill these things is to crush their heads." Itachi said calmly before showing him Mangenkyou Sharingan. Black flames flew out of his right eye and devoured all seven of the creatures. Konan took that chance to fly out of there and towards where Kisame was.

As the creatures were twitching in the flames, Itachi went to them and shoved a kunai through each of their skulls, being sure to twist and move the kunai around, being sure to scramble the brain. Each of the creatures fell and Itachi released his Amaterasu, causing a blood tear to leak out of his eye. He turned his Sharingan off, just to rest his eyes for at least a moment.

Itachi turned around and began going the other way.

'_Itachi, stay in that room! That room is not a dead end, the entrance is just hidden. Sakura is in there!'_ Konan said to Itachi through the ring.

Itachi paused and flickered his Sharingan back to life, almost wincing at the sharp pain in his temple.

Now that she mentioned it, he did feel Sakura's chakra nearby. As he scanned the walls very carefully, he finally saw a streak of very thin light. He also just happened to see a piece of paper sticking out of the wall. Konan had been in front of it before she fled.

_No wonder she knew where Sakura was_. Itachi thought to himself before pushing on the door, causing a mechanism to click into place and the door to roll open.

In front of him, on the table sprawled out, was an open eyed, slightly black veined Sakura.

His eyes widened and although he would never mention it to anyone, a tear drop fell from his left eye as he all but ran to the woman that he loved. As he picked her up, he swore her eyes moved, but he couldn't be too sure. He was sure, though, that he could see a faint ring around her pupil.

'_I found her.'_

**A/N I AM NOT DEAD. AFTER EIGHT FLIPPIN' MONTHS….I am so sorry guys…so so so so soooo sorry…it has taken me EIGHT MONTHS. Jesus….**

**So I just wanted to tell you guys…that you all—my readers, my reviewers—are the reason why I decided to finish this chapter and post it. It isn't as long as I would have hoped but it is three in the morning, I need to sleep since I work tomorrow, and I need you all to know that I am alive and I still love you all!**

**So, here come the numbers!**

**1) Oh my gosh, I totally inspired someone! LilithiaRW mentioned me in the first chapter of their story "It's in Her Eyes"! Guys, this makes me SOOO excited! Lilithia, I hope you read this, because YOU are the reason why I decided to write this! I plan to continue tomorrow and write the sixteenth chapter, where some Orochimaru ass kicking will most likely ensue!**

**So everyone, go read It's in Her Eyes! It's a pretty wicked story! They haven't updated in a while, but maybe if we review-spam them they will be forced to update!**

**2) Oh my gosh! I have hit 134 reviews! That is the MOST out of ALL of stories that I have posted! I am so excited. I feel so inspired because people are reviewing, people are just viewing (over 36k views!) and most of all, I am INSPIRING people! My inspiration has returned in leaps and bounds!**

**3) By the way, I changed the summary of this fanfiction. Does everyone like it? Please tell me, I would love to know. If you liked the old one better, feel free to tell me, I have ways I can get it back. I just felt like the summary was really childish. I am really trying to keep this fanfiction as far away from childish as I can..just, uh, ignore the first few chapters….of course.**

**4) I do plan to redo the first few chapters….at some point. I just don't know when…when I do, they will be TOTALLY redone. I promise. ESPECIALLY the very first chapter. Oh my gosh it is NASTY. How come I only had ONE person tell me that it was TERRIBLE. Guys, come on….you can be honest with me. I promise I won't bite…I WANT you guys to tell me that certain aspects of my writing sucks…but ALSO tell me how I could IMPROVE it. If I spell something wrong…TELL ME. Don't like how I phrase something or you don't like how I put something in my story? TELL. ME. I WANT to know. If I know your opinions, I will become inspired once more and be like "MUST. WRITE!" I promise. It works every time. By the way, I am going to start TRYING to reply to your reviews. I've went through a few of the pages and replied to reviews that have even been on here for two years, and I do apologize if I didn't reply to someone's….**

**But that is A LOT of reviews…and even if I get 1,000 reviews, I will ALWAYS go back through the reviews and squee over how much people really appreciate my fanficion.**

**Really, guys, I love you all…**

**5) So anyhoo, more serious matters…**

**I realized something a few months back..(more like a year and a half but anyway…) I had Sakura train in something, and I was even going to make it into a little contest….AND I DIDN'T EVEN SAY WHAT THE TRAINING WAS. –facepalms- I can't believe you guys let me get away with that! **

**I am thinking about doing a side story JUST for the training. Just so you might know a little more about Sakura's abilities. I know, at this point in time, Sakura seems a bit….weak. I haven't shown her as very strong, and I am REALLY sorry…but she is unconscious! What can I do? Don't answer that, there is a lot, honestly, but anyhoo. Haha.**

**I also started on ANOTHER side story, where it is only ItaSaku moments. I noticed that I seemed to rush with those moments….where Itachi just SUDDENLY falls in love with Sakura…I am so sorry…soooo sorry. I didn't really expect this fanfiction to get so much love so I just wanted to write. SO…**

**Should I write one of these? What about both? I don't know…There is a poll on my profile, go and answer it for me. Don't review and tell me though…or, well, you can, just also post on the poll. I'll be able to see what all of you think there.**

**6) Also, the last poll I posted (about what couple I should make this story) out of the 33 people who voted…19 said ItaSaku! I was kind of overjoyed…I had planned on doing ItaSaku from the beginning, sooo….thank you 19 people! But, if my readers had said someone else, I would have complied….I promise.**

**7) Hmmm…I seem to be a little short on numbers, but oh well…**

**8) Word count (with A/N) 4466**

**Word count (w/o A/N): 3401**

…**Almost a 1000 word A/N….again.**

**Cookies to everyone! Whatever your favorite kind is, have a cookie, or two….X3**

**Farewell, o' faithful readers and have a very good night. **

**Ja ne!**

**~/Takai-sama\~**


	16. The Dreaded AN! (READ)

**A/N Hey guys! So, I am very sorry about this….but I have a few announcements to make!**

**First, and most importantly of all, I am NOT dead, nor do I intend to drop this fanfiction! I've just…hit a bit of a snag….**

**So I absolutely CANNOT do a battle scene, which is really sad….**

**So I am completely stuck on a battle scene, and I really kind of need help…**

**Here is my first little "project" out of two. I am wanting someone to write me a battle scene! **

**Now before I get into all the details, I want to say this…yes, it is pretty bad that I cannot write my battle scenes. I really want to, but if I do then I will never continue on in the story. I'll keep worrying about how terrible the scene is, so I would like someone else to do it for me, so I can stop worrying about the battle scene and FINALLY update PoS!**

**Now then, the project. **

**What will you get if you help me out here? Well, I don't want to promise a one-shot or anything, because I am terrible at keeping to my word about writing (a terrible habit, yes, but inspiration eludes me and real life smacks me in the face. Multiple times.) But if you would like a one-shot, shoot me some ideas and I will TRY. I will **_**not**_** promise something, because then I would only disappoint you!**

**(BTW. The one-shot deal is only if you are the one who gets to help me with my story. This is only because I'm a terrible person and am already trying to work on two side stories, which I have put on hold for a long while…haha….)**

**Now then, other than the one-shot, the person who helps me will have the entire chapter dedicated to them! I'm sorry, but that is the only thing I can really offer…if you really like this fanfiction and would like it to continue (and you have good grammar and story writing skills) then please, PM me and say you would like to help me! **

**If you are interested in helping me, then I will give you the basic information. The information I will give you is who is fighting and what I currently have on it in the form of points.**

**Now then, before I give you any of that information, I need a little something from you guys! If you are interested, shoot me a PM just stating that you are interested. I will then look on your profile and read some of your fanfictions. If you have any indepth fights in your fanfictions, please give me the title of that fanfiction along with what chapter the fighting starts in. This would help me immensely! **

**The purpose of this is so I can see who I think would be able to write the battle well. So please, shoot me a PM ASAP! (Btw, I will not accept Reviews as an "entry," as everyone can see them and yes, I am going for secrecy!)**

**Now, my SECOND project…**

**I came up with, what I think is, a good idea for a fanfiction. Once again, send me a PM if you are interested and I will read your fanfictions and, if I like what I read, I will send you the information I have on the fanfiction idea. I started a few basic outlines and such. It will kind of show my idea along with a little of the plotline. **

**Well guys, thanks for reading, and sorry about this A/N! As soon as I get the chapter done, I will update it and change this A/N into the chapter. Sorry about this, but I REALLY want to get past this chapter, the more interesting stuff is coming up soon!**

**~/Takai-sama\~**

**XxBirdxofxHermesxX**


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